Systematic study of (n,p) reaction cross sections from the reaction threshold to 20 MeV

The cross sections of ^natCr(n,x)⁵²V, ⁵²Cr(n,p)⁵²V, ^natCr(n,x)⁵³V, ⁵³Cr(n,p)⁵³V, ^natZn(n,x)⁶⁶Cu, ⁶⁶Zn(n,p)⁶⁶Cu, ^natZn(n,x)⁶⁸Cu^m, ⁶⁸Zn(n,p)⁶⁸Cu^m, ^natMo(n,x)⁹⁷Nb^g, ⁹⁷Mo(n,p)⁹⁷Nb^g, ^natMo(n,x)⁹⁷Nb^m, ⁹⁷Mo(n,p)⁹⁷Nb^m, ^natSn(n,x)¹¹⁶In^m1+m2, ¹¹⁶Sn(n,p)¹¹⁶In^m1+m2, ^natSn(n,x)¹¹⁷In^g, ¹¹⁷Sn(n,p)¹¹⁷In^g, ^natSn(n,x)¹¹⁸In^m1+m2,¹¹⁸Sn(n,p)¹¹⁸In^m1+m2, ^natSn(n,x)¹²⁰ In^x , ¹²⁰Sn(n,p)¹²⁰In^x , ^natBa(n,x)¹³⁸Cs, and ¹³⁸Ba(n,p)¹³⁸Cs reactions have been measured at 14.8 MeV neutron energy. In the present work, the contributions of (n,np), (n,pn), and (n,d) reactions from heavier isotopes are subtracted. The cross sections were also estimated with the TALYS-1.2 nuclear model code using different level density models, at neutron energies varying from the reaction threshold to 20 MeV. The variations in the (n,p) cross sections with the neutron number in the isotopes of an element are also discussed in brief.