Measurement of neutron induced reaction cross-section of tantalum with covariance analysis

Abstract: The current study presents the cross-section measurement of $<sup>{181}$Ta(n,$\gamma$)$<sup>{182}$Ta reaction at 1.37 $\pm$ 0.13, 2.06 $\pm$ 0.14, 2.56 $\pm$ 0.15, and 3.05 $\pm$ 0.17 MeV neutron energies utilizing offline $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy. The neutrons were generated through the $<sup>{7}$Li(p,n)$<sup>{7}$Be reaction. The $<sup>{115}$In(n,n'$\gamma$)$<sup>{115m}$In reaction served as a monitor reaction. The covariance analysis was used to quantify the uncertainties in the measured cross-sections for the first time for the $<sup>{181}$Ta(n,$\gamma$)$<sup>{182}$Ta reaction. The present study provides detailed information on the propagation of uncertainty in the overall result. The required corrections for low energy background neutron and $\gamma$-ray coincidence summing effect have been made in the present measurement. The output is compared with the pre-existing cross-section data from the EXFOR database, evaluated data libraries and theoretical model predictions.