Cross Sections of Neutron Inelastic Scattering in ¹³⁴Xe

The major concern in neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay experiments is background events. Neutrinoless double beta decay is a process with an extremely large half-life; so far only half-life limits have been measured. Therefore, understanding the backgrounds is a crucial part of the analysis process. Neutron induced processes can create such backgrounds, and were of primary concern for this project. In 0νββ-decay experiments, relevant sources of neutrons include cosmic ray interactions or (α, n) reactions in the shielding materials. These neutrons can create gamma rays via inelastic scattering or neutron radiative capture, and they can create more neutrons through spallation. KamLAND-Zen and EXO-200 are studying the 0νββ decay of the nucleus ¹³⁶Xe. Though their source material is highly enriched in ¹³⁶Xe, it contains significant fractions of ¹³⁴Xe. A nuclear level discovered in ¹³⁴Xe created from neutrons inelastically scattered off a ¹³⁴XeF₂ target decays emits a gamma ray with an energy dangerously close to the region of interest of 0νββ decay. We investigated this result using a highly enriched ¹³⁴XeF₂ target and measured the decays using two high purity Germanium clover detectors. The data was analyzed using ROOT, and the resulting cross sections for neutron inelastic scattering in ¹³⁴Xe at various incident neutron energies were determined, extending the available information on neutron inelastic scattering in ¹³⁴ Xe to more incident neutron energies.