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Reaction atlas · s-process

Radiative capture · Main component (AGB stars)

209Bi(n,γ)210Bi

: bismuth‑209 + neutron → bismuth‑210 + gamma rayHow to read the notation

On this page

Bismuth-209 captures a neutron. It is the end of the s-process: what follows decays back to lead, and the path closes into a cycle.

Bismuth-209 is the heaviest nucleus the s-process reaches. When it captures a neutron it becomes bismuth-210, in one of two forms. The ground state decays within days to polonium-210, which emits an alpha particle and becomes lead-206; a long-lived excited form, the isomer, also ends as lead-206, through an alpha decay to thallium-206. The neutrons that reach bismuth therefore keep cycling through lead and bismuth instead of building anything heavier. The cross section decides how much of the bismuth in the Solar System the s-process made, and so how much is left for the rapid r-process to explain.

Facts

How well known
Measured with neutron beams; a 2006 measurement at CERN raised the rate at the lowest stellar temperatures by about 16%.
Live evaluation
No live evaluation yet · Evaluations
Reaction rates
Explore the rates →
Q-value · energy released
4.605 MeV
Thermal energy kT
about 8–23 keV, the energy of a gas at 90–270 million kelvin
By stellar site
  • 7.8 keVAGB 13C pocket, 90 MK
  • 23 keVAGB thermal pulse, 0.27 GK
Why no Gamow window
A neutron feels no Coulomb barrier, so there is no Gamow window: the relevant energies are those of the thermal distribution itself, around kT.
Product 210Bi
radioactive, t½ = 5.01 d
Kind
Radiative capture

On the timeline

  1. 2001Three lead stars are discovered

How it was measured

2 measurements, 2004–2006Show the list
  1. 2004

    Karlsruhe Van de GraaffKernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe (now Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

    Activation · quasi-Maxwellian kT = 25 keV

    Stellar cross sections of 208Pb and 209Bi at the end of the path; the partial cross section to the 210Bi ground state, which feeds 210Po. [1]

  2. 2006

    n_TOF, CERNCERN

    Neutron beams and time of flight · resolved resonances (neutron energy)

    Pulse-height weighting with low neutron sensitivity; rate at kT = 5–8 keV about 16% higher; s fraction of solar Bi 19 ± 3%. [2]

Measurements (EXFOR)

Every dataset EXFOR holds for this reaction, drawn by the energies it covers, against the energies a star uses.

148 datasets in 50 EXFOR entries, 1945–2023 · 54 without an energy range, not drawn

Temperature
Lowest energy in EXFOR
25.2 meV
TATTERSALL et al., 1960; Revay et al., 2003; Revay et al., 2005; Borella et al., 2011; Al-Khasawneh et al., 2021; Shor et al., 2022 · σ · 20638.065
Maxwellian averages measured
28 sets
kT from 5 keV to 50 keV
Rate from energies not in EXFOR
100%
at kT = 7.76 keV, smooth estimate
10⁻⁷ keV10 meV1 eV100 eV10 keV1 MeV100 MeVEnergy, or kT for a Maxwellian average (keV)kT = 7.76 keVσσ→Eₓdσ/dΩωγMACSother
  • Energies that matter at kT = 7.76 keV
  • Outlined bars are shown but not counted (the rule is under “How these numbers are made”).
  • A diamond is a dataset at a single energy. Bars running off the right edge continue to higher energies.
The datasets of the gap map, by quantity
The datasets of the gap map, by quantity
QuantityDatasetsE_cm range (keV)
σcross section2525.2 meV – 14.7 MeV
σ→Eₓpartial425.2 meV – 25.2 meV
dσ/dΩangular distribution14.68 MeV – 8.26 MeV
ωγresonance strength149.8 keV – 49.8 keV
MACSMaxwellian average285 keV – 50 keV
…other350.524 meV – 14 MeV
How these numbers are made

Lowest measured energy, everywhere in the data explorer: the lowest centre-of-mass energy at which a dataset in EXFOR measures the reaction itself (cross section, S-factor, angular distribution, yield or resonance strength), judged point by point. A point counts when it is a value, not an upper or lower limit, when it lies at least one standard deviation above zero, and when its energy is physical: at least 1 keV for charged particles, and not below the threshold of an endothermic reaction. Not counted: extrapolated, calculated, evaluated or derived values; superseded, deleted or preliminary data; ratios; a single S-factor value, which in EXFOR is a fit result; and indirect methods (Trojan horse, Coulomb dissociation, ANC, surrogate reactions), recognized from EXFOR's method and analysis codes, their text and the title. Frame and unit errors of EXFOR are corrected first, and values the literature shows to be upper limits are read as limits, from a list that gives the evidence for each. Datasets that reach the same energy within 0.5% are all credited, earliest first. Rate from energies not in EXFOR: the share of the rate integrand at that temperature outside the energy ranges the counted datasets cover (from their lowest measured point to their highest), with a constant S-factor (σ ∝ S(E₀)/E · e^−2πη, so the integrand is e^(−E/kT − 2πη)); for a neutron capture, σ ∝ 1/v. Resonances make the real integrand lumpy, so read it as a smooth baseline.

Details

How well known, in detail: The resonance data were revised at n_TOF in 2006, raising the stellar rate at low temperatures by about 16%.

Capture on 209Bi feeds both the 5.0 d ground state of 210Bi, which β−-decays to 210Po, and a long-lived isomer (t½ ≈ 3 × 106 yr in the laboratory). Activation at Karlsruhe measured the stellar cross sections of 208Pb and 209Bi at the termination of the path and the partial cross section to the ground state (Ratzel et al. 2004). Both states close the cycle at 206Pb: the ground state through 210Po (138 d) and its α decay, the 271 keV isomer through its own α decay to 206Tl and β− decay to 206Pb.

Both branch: 210Po can capture a neutron (211Po → 207Pb), and capture on the isomer gives 211Bi (α, 2.14 min → 207Tl → 207Pb), so part of the cycle leaks to 207Pb, by an amount that depends on the neutron density and the temperature (Domingo-Pardo et al. 2006). 209Bi itself is only quasi-stable: it α-decays with t½ ≈ 2 × 1019 yr. The capture resonances of 209Bi were measured at n_TOF with the pulse-height weighting technique, with a set-up of practically negligible neutron sensitivity.

In the stellar range kT = 5–8 keV the new rate is about 16% higher than the value used before; the s-process fraction of solar bismuth becomes 19 ± 3%, leaving an r-process residual of 81 ± 3% (Domingo-Pardo et al. 2006).

Evaluations

Compilations that combine the data into a recommended rate.

  • —Z. Y. Bao et al., At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 76, 70 (2000) [3]
  • —I. Dillmann et al., Nucl. Data Sheets 120, 171 (2014) [4]
  • —I. Dillmann et al., Proc. Int. Conf. on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology 2007 (EDP Sciences, 2008), p. 575 [5]

Related reactions

References

  1. 1.

    U. Ratzel, C. Arlandini, F. Käppeler et al.

    Nucleosynthesis at the termination point of the s process

    Phys. Rev. C 70, 065803 (2004) · 10.1103/PhysRevC.70.065803

  2. 2.

    C. Domingo-Pardo et al. (n_TOF Collaboration)

    New measurement of neutron capture resonances in 209Bi

    Phys. Rev. C 74, 025807 (2006) · 10.1103/PhysRevC.74.025807 · arXiv:nucl-ex/0610040

  3. 3.

    Z. Y. Bao, H. Beer, F. Käppeler, F. Voss, K. Wisshak, T. Rauscher

    Neutron cross sections for nucleosynthesis studies

    At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 76, 70 (2000) · 10.1006/adnd.2000.0838

  4. 4.

    I. Dillmann, T. Szücs, R. Plag, Z. Fülöp, F. Käppeler, A. Mengoni, T. Rauscher

    The Karlsruhe Astrophysical Database of Nucleosynthesis in Stars project – status and prospects

    Nucl. Data Sheets 120, 171 (2014) · arXiv:1408.3688

  5. 5.

    I. Dillmann et al.

    New stellar (n,γ) cross sections and the "Karlsruhe Astrophysical Database of Nucleosynthesis in Stars"

    Proc. Int. Conf. on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology 2007 (EDP Sciences, 2008), p. 575 (2008) · 10.1051/ndata:07303 · arXiv:0806.2076

How to cite this page

J. Skowronski, 209Bi(n,γ)210Bi, in Reaction atlas, 2026-10-12, https://jskowron.eu/atlas/209Bi-ng-210Bi.

Cite the date you used; it is the last change to this page.

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