A Study on Interactions of 14.7-MeV Protons and 3.6-MeV Alphas in ⁹³Nb Target

Niobium is an important alloying material in nuclear reactors because of its enormous strength, low density, low neutron absorption, and high melting point. This study is structured on nuclear data calculations that are based on a Monte Carlo simulation approach. The GEANT4, SRIM, and TALYS codes were used to create a comprehensive simulation of 3.6-MeV alphas and 14.7-MeV protons on a target. We present calculation results on nuclear parameters as ion energy losses, displacements, vacancies, projected ranges, and cross sections. A comparison between the GEANT4 and SRIM codes was made for the projected ranges and ion energy losses. Besides, the calculations of cross sections in the TALYS code were carried out using level densities on the Skyrme energy density functional and the Fermi gas model.