We present results from direct measurements of the total ${}^{13}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,n){}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ cross section over laboratory energies $E_{\alpha }=2.9$–8.0 MeV, performed with the ${}^3{\mathrm{HeBF}}_3$ giant barrel neutron detector at the Edwards Accelerator Laboratory. The cross sections reported in this work are considerably lower than prior direct measurements for $E_{\alpha }>5$ MeV, in agreement with prior corrections based on Hauser-Feshbach estimates. However, applying branching ratios based on Hauser-Feshbach estimates to our data would not reproduce existing direct measurements for partial decay channels. This indicates both the promise and limitations of Hauser-Feshbach for branching ratio estimates of $(\alpha ,n)$ reactions on light nuclides. The ${}^{13}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,n)$ thick-target yields inferred from this work for $E_{\alpha }>6$ MeV are significantly larger than those currently employed in estimates of dark matter and neutrino detector backgrounds.

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• H & He induced nuclear reactions
• Nuclear reactions
• Transfer reactions
• s process
• 6 ≤ A ≤ 19