Investigation of breakup process in 9Be(α,n)12C reaction

Neutron energies and angular distributions were measured in 9Be(α,n)12C reaction for α energies of 5.5 and 6.5 MeV. Three major neutron groups were observed in the spectrum, which correspond to the ground and first two excited states of 12C. Measured data could only be explained by the TALYS calculation if reaction at more than one location within the target are considered for a given beam energy. The preferred locations are driven by the resonance energy levels existing in 13C. Neutron yield due to the 9Be breakup process was determined which is found to 12.6 ± 0.2% and 18.4 ± 0.5% of the total reaction cross-section for 5.5 and 6.5 MeV respectively.