Measurement of the excitation functions for ^nat Ni( α ,x) reactions with detailed covariance analysis

We measured production cross sections of ^56 Co, ^57 Co, ^58 Co, ^65 Zn and ^67 Cu radioisotopes from α -induced reactions of ^nat Ni by using a stacked-foil activation technique and offline γ -ray spectroscopy technique. The results were compared with the available experimental data as well as the theoretical calculations based on the TALYS - 1.9 code. The present results in the energy region from 19 MeV to 40 MeV are in consistent with the existing experimental data and the calculated results. The measured cross-sections are reported along with their uncertainties and covariance matrix after a thorough uncertainty propagation using covariance analysis. The present experimental results will significantly contribute to enlarging the literature database for α -induced reactions on ^nat Ni, leading to a variety of applications.