Novel scintillators - new ways at ELBE

Nuclear resonance fluorescence experiments are a suitable tool to measure photo-absorption cross sections, from which one can determine the electromagnetic photon-strength functions. These strength functions are one of the main ingredients in network calculations for the nucleosynthesis in supernovae as well as in simulations concerning future nuclear power facilities. However, with the new orientation of these power plants from pure power production to a site where the transmutation of nuclear waste becomes more and more important, new kinds of data sets are needed.
The talk will show how we started to use the unique characteristics of LaBr3 detectors in experiments at the ELBE accelerator in Dresden-Rossendorf.
Experiments with positrons, neutrons and photons are presented and potential improvements are pointed out, which show how these experiments can benefit from the developments in the field of novel scintillators.