(n,p) and (n,alpha) measurements using LENZ instrument to improve reaction model prediction

Understanding neutron-induced charged particle reactions is of interest for nuclear astrophysics and applied nuclear energy. Often, direct measurements of these reactions are not feasible at neutron beam facilities due to the short half-lives of the targets and the reduced cross sections at astrophysically relevant energies given the large Coulomb barriers. Instead, the Hauser-Feshbach formalism is used to study this reaction mechanism for predicting cross sections. We have developed the LENZ (Low Energy n,z) instrument to measure the (n,p) and (n,$\alpha$) reactions using a time-of-flight method for incident neutron energies from thermal to several tens of MeV at LANSCE. The LENZ has improved capabilities including a large solid angle, a low detection threshold, and good signal-to-background ratios using waveform digitizers. We have performed an in-beam commissioning measurement on $^{59}$Co(n,$\alpha $/p) at E$_{\mathrm{n}} = $ 0.7 -- 12 MeV. In this paper, we will discuss the results of the $^{59}$Co(n,$\alpha $/p) measurements and present the status of the reaction studies on $^{16}$O(n,$\alpha$) for nuclear energy applications and $^{77}$Se(n,p) for reaction mechanism studies.