Astrophysics at n-TOF facility

Abstract

Heavy elements with Z ≥ 30 are made by neutron capture reactions during stellar He burning and presumably in supernovae. This contribution deals mainly with the slow neutron capture (s) process which is responsible for about one half of the abundances in the mass region between Fe and Bi. The slow time scale implies that the reaction path of this process involves mostly stable isotopes which can be studied in detail in laboratory experiments. The neutron time of flight (n_TOF) facility at CERN is a neutron spallation source, its white neutron energy spectrum ranges from thermal to several MeV, covering the full energy range of interest for nuclear astrophysics, in particular for measurements of the neutron capture cross section required in s-process nucleosynthesis. This contribution gives an overview on the astrophysical program made at n_TOF facility, the results and the implications will be considered.