Abstract
The cross sections for
58
Co(
n
,
xp
) reactions have been determined in the equivalent neutron energy range of 11.7–16.8 MeV by employing the surrogate reaction ratio method and using the cross-section values for the reference reaction
60
Ni(
n
,
xp
) from the literature. The transfer reactions
57
Fe(
6
Li,
α
) at
E
lab
= 37 MeV and
59
Co(
6
Li,
α
) at
E
lab
= 33 MeV, are used to populate compound nuclei
59
Co
∗
(surrogate of
n
+
58
Co) and
61
Ni
∗
(surrogate of
n
+
60
Ni), respectively, at similar excitation energies. The evaporated protons at backward angles measured in coincidence with the projectile-like fragment alpha provide the proton decay probabilities of the compound nuclei. The cross sections estimated using the nuclear-reactions-model code
talys
-1.96 are consistent with the experimental
58
Co(
n
,
xp
) data for the entire neutron energy range. However, the predictions of the evaluated data libraries
endf/b-viii
,
jeff
-3.3,
jendl
-5,
rosfond
-2010 and
tendl
-2019 overestimate the present experimental data, indicating the necessity to improve the model parameters of the data libraries for this reaction.