Natural copper is commonly used as cooling and shielding medium in detector arrangements designed to search for neutrinoless double-$\beta$ decay. Neutron-induced background reactions on copper could potentially produce signals that are indistinguishable from the signals of interest. The present work focuses on radiative neutron capture experiments on ${}^{63,65}\mathrm{Cu}$ in the 0.4 to 7.5 MeV neutron energy range. The new data provide evaluations and model calculations with benchmark data needed to extend their applicability in predicting background rates in neutrinoless double-$\beta$ decay experiments.

• Received 5 December 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.97.044617