Study of the Mo-Ba partition in 252Cf spontaneous fission

Measurements of fission fragment yields and neutron multiplicities have been carried out for the Mo-Ba fragment pairs in the spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf, using the γ-ray spectroscopy technique to analyze γ-γ-γ coincidence data. Prompt γ -ray multiplicities were also measured as a function of the number of neutrons emitted in the fission process leading to the Mo-Ba partition. We do not observe the enhancement in the yields of events with high neutron emission multiplicity (ν_n > 7) that has been associated to a second fission mode leading to the production of hyperdeformed Ba fragments, as reported in some earlier studies. The average γ-ray multiplicity is found to be rather weakly dependent on the number of neutrons emitted in the fission process. Received: 21 July 1999 / Revised version: 19 November 1999     

Cold and hot binary and ternary fission yields in the spontaneous fission of 252Cf

The spontaneous fission (SF) of ²⁵²Cf has been studied via γ-γ-γ coincidence and light charged particle—γ-γ coincidence with Gammasphere. The yields of correlated Mo-Ba pairs in binary fission with 0–10 neutron emission have been remeasured with an uncompressed cube. The previous hot fission mode with 8–10 neutron emission seen in the Mo-Ba split is found to be smaller than earlier results but still present. New 0n binary SF yields are reported. By gating on the light charged particles detected in ΔE-E detectors and γ-γ coincidence with Gammasphere, the relative yields of correlated pairs in alpha ternary fission with zero to 6n emission are observed for the first time. The peak occurs around the α2n channel. A number of correlated pairs are identified in ternary fission with ¹⁰Be as the light charged particle. We observed only cold, 0n ¹⁰Be and little, if any, hot, xn ¹⁰Be channels.     

Behavior of nuclear matter under extreme conditions in fission

The spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf has been studied via γ-γ-γ coincidence and γ-γ light charged particle coincidence with Gammasphere. The binary fission yields of correlated Mo?Ba pairs with 0–10 neutron emission have been remeasured. The existence of “hot” fission mode with 8–10 neutron emission seen previously in the Mo?Ba split is confirmed but with lower intensities. By gating on the light charged particles detected in ΔE-E detectors and a γ ray in one partner, the relative yields of correlated pairs in alpha ternary SF with zero to 6n emission are observed for the first time with the distribution peaked at 2.5n. New correlated pairs are identified in ¹⁰Be ternary SF. We observed essentially only cold, On ¹⁰Be and little, if any, hot, xn ¹⁰Be. New γ-γ-γ data with 2.3 times the total events show weak non-Doppler broadened high energy peaks in coincidence with transitions in correlated pairs in ¹⁰Be SF shifted by the same 6,1 to 26 keV from the 2-0 energy in ¹⁰Be as seen earlier.     

Experiment aimed at the study of 252Cf binary and ternary fission

A new experiment devoted to the fission of ²⁵²Cf is described. It continued a series of our experiments based on correlation measurements of γ rays emitted by fission fragment pairs. The measurements of γ-γ and γ-γ-γ coincidences were done at Gammasphere with closed ²⁵²Cf sources. The open source was used for the first time in the last experiment. Fission fragment detectors were arranged in the center hole of Gammasphere. Correlations between fission fragment masses, total kinetic energy, and γ rays were observed. The first, preliminary results of data analysis are discussed. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Indication for hyperdeformed cluster states in <Superscript>233</Superscript>Th

An activation technique was used to investigate relative yields of fission products from the reaction ²³²Th(n, f ) for neutron energies between 1.3 and 1.8MeV covering the region around the first hyperdeformed resonances. Intensities of characteristic γ-ray transitions were analyzed to search for changes in the mass distribution for neutron energies corresponding to the resonances and below the resonances. Relative increases in yield between 7 and 23% are observed for A ≈ 100 and 132 in the resonance region around 1.6MeV. It is proposed that the yield enhancement of daughter nuclei of the preformed fragments ¹³²Sn and ¹⁰¹Zr arises from cold fission of a di-cluster configuration. The experimental results support theoretical predictions for the existence of hyperdeformed octupole shapes based on the di-nuclear configuration ¹³²Sn + ¹⁰¹Zr.     

Long-range alpha emission inP-wave neutron induced fission of235U

The yield and energy distribution of long-range alpha-particles (lra) emitted from neutron-induced fission of²³⁵U have been measured at neutron energies; thermal, 125±12, 155±11, 185±10, 210±9, 240±9, 365±50 and 480±45 keV. The long-range alpha-particles were detected in cellulose nitrate track detector foils. Results showed an increase of about 50% in the yield at neutron energies in the region 150 keV≤E _n≤220 keV as compared to that of thermal neutrons. A calculation has been carried out to extract thelra to binary fission ratio forp-wave neutron induced fission.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis>-odd angular correlations in the emission of prompt gamma rays and neutrons in nuclear fission induced by polarized neutrons

Study of the T-odd three-vector correlation in the emission of prompt neutrons from ²³⁵U fission by polarized cold neutrons has been continued at the facility MEPHISTO of the FRM II reactor (Technical University of Munich). The sought correlation was not found within experimental error of 2.3 × 10⁻⁵. The upper limit for the asymmetry coefficient has been set to |D _n | < 6 × 10⁻⁵ at 99% confidence level, whereas for ternary fission correlation coefficient D _α = (170±20) × 10⁻⁵. This limit casts doubt on a model that explains the three-vector correlation in ternary fission by the Coriolis mechanism. At the same time, five-vector correlation in the emission of prompt fission neutrons has been measured, which describes the rotation of the fissioning nucleus at the moment it breaks (ROT effect). At the angle 22.5° to the fission axis, the correlation coefficient was found to be (1.57 ± 0.20) × 10⁻⁴, while at the angle of 67.5° it is zero within the experimental uncertainty. The existence of ROT effect in the emission of prompt fission neutrons can be explained by the anisotropy of neutron emission in the rest frame of the fragment (fission fragments are aligned with respect to the axis of deformation of the fissioning nucleus), similar to the mechanism of ROT effect in the emission of prompt γ-rays.     

Fragment dependence of high energy γ-ray emission in the spontaneous fission of 252Cf

The high energy γ-ray emission accompanying the spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf has been measured in coincidence with individual fission fragments selected by discrete γ-ray transitions. The enhancement of the γ-ray emission probability in the energy range E_γ= 3–8 MeV has been observed for the fission fragments in the region of nearly symmetric mass splitting, confirming results reported in previous investigations. The γ-γ coincidence technique employed in the present work clearly demonstrate that the major contribution to this enhancement is caused by the fission channels where one fragment is near to the N= 82 or Z= 50 shell closures. The high energy γ-ray emission probability does not show any significant dependence on the number of neutrons emitted in the fission process, supporting the hypothesis that high energy γ-rays are mainly emitted from the fragments after the neutron evaporation. Received: 22 December 1998     

Even and odd amplitudes of distributions of third particles in nuclear fission

The principal values for the even and odd components of the amplitudes of the angular distributions of α particles emitted as the third particles in true low-energy ternary fission of nuclei are calculated within the quantum theory of fission using natural approximations for the dependence of the potential scattering phases of the α particle on its orbital momenta and experimental angular distributions, unperturbed by the fissioning nucleus rotation, of these third α particles. Knowing the angular dependences of these components, we can estimate the angular dependences of the T-odd ROT and TRI asymmetry coefficients for the ternary fission of actinide nuclei induced by cold polarized neutrons.     

Mechanisms for the appearance of prescission γ-rays and their related T-odd asymmetries

Conditions for the appearance and observation of prescission γ-rays emitted by a fissioning nucleus before its separation into fission fragments were investigated within the quantum theory of fission. It was demonstrated that these conditions can be fulfilled in the γ-decay of giant electric isovector dipole resonances in a fissioning nucleus that become excited due to the nonadiabaticity of the collective deformation motion of the nucleus at the final stages of its prefission evolution. Angular and energy distributions of prescission γ-rays emitted by unpolarized fissioning nuclei were analyzed. Characteristics of T-odd asymmetries in angular distributions of prescission γ-rays were investigated for fission of unpolarized target nuclei induced by polarized cold neutrons, and these correlations were shown to be similar in nature to the T-odd ROT correlations earlier found for α-particles emitted in ternary nuclear fission.     

Ternary fission within statistical approach

The ternary system with a light nucleus between two heavy fragments is assumed to appear from the binary configuration near scission. The formation of a third light nucleus in the binary system is considered. The calculated charge distributions in spontaneous ternary fission of ²⁵²Cf and in induced ternary fission of ⁵⁶Ni are compared with the available experimental data. The neutron multiplicity from the fission fragments is described. The fine structures of the TKE-mass distribution are predicted.     

Combined dynamical and statistical approach to describing induced fission of heavy nuclei

A combined dynamical and statistical approach to describing induced fission of heavy nuclei is proposed. This approach takes into account the nuclear-dissipation phenomenon and the double-humped structure of the fission barrier. A method that is intended for calculating the angular distribution of fission fragments and which is applicable over a broad range of excitation energies is discussed. The potential of the approach is demonstrated by addressing the problems of self-consistently describing experimental data on fission probabilities for plutonium and americium isotopes, the yields of shape isomers in the α+²³⁸U reaction at alpha-particle energies in the range E _α = 20–32 MeV and the d+^242,240Pu reactions at deuteron energies in the range E _d = 20–30 MeV, fission times in the α + ²³⁸U reaction at alpha-particle energies in the range E _α = 20–32 MeV, and angular distributions of fission fragments in the α + ²³⁸U, ²³⁷Np reactions at alpha-particle energies in the range E _α = 20–100 MeV.     

Production of the (<Emphasis Type="Italic">I</Emphasis> = 19/2) high-spin isomer <Superscript>135</Superscript>Cs in photonuclear reactions

The yields of ¹³⁵Cs nuclei in a high-spin (19/2) isomeric state and of nuclei neighboring it were measured for photonuclear reactions of the (γ, f) and (γ, α) types. The experiments in question were performed by using bremsstrahlung from a microtron at the maximum electron energy of 25 MeV. The product nuclei were identified by their half-lives and by the lines of gamma radiation emitted in their decay, and the reaction yields R were determined by the ratios of the intensities of these lines to the bremsstrahlung flux. The cross sections for isomer production were calculated, and the angular momenta of product nuclei immediately before the cascade of gamma transitions populating the ground or an isomeric nuclear state were evaluated on the basis of these results. An enhanced yield of the high-spin isomer of ¹³⁵Cs in the fission reaction in relation to the respective (γ, α) reaction and in relation to the results of the calculations is found.     

Studies on the level structure of 152Nd

The structure of ¹⁵²Nd, produced via β⁻ decay of ¹⁵²Pr, has been investigated using γ-γ coincidence, γ-γ angular correlation, and β-γ-γ triple coincidence measurements. Praseodymium activities were obtained by the thermal neutron fission of ²³⁵U and collected by the on-line isotope separator KUR-ISOL. Nineteen γ-rays and four excited states were newly found. The spins of six exited states were determined and the parities of three of them were also deduced. The spin and parity of the ¹⁵²Pr ground state, which were previously considered as 4⁻, are proposed to be 4⁺ by the present study. Received: 19 October 1998 / Revised version: 22 December 1998     

Radioactive decay of 217Pa

The radioactive decay of ²¹⁷Pa was investigated by means of α-γ-spectroscopy. Fine structure in the ground-state α-decay was established. Ambiguities in the fine structure of the α-decay of the previously known isomeric state could be clarified by α-γ-coincidence measurements. A previously unknown α-transition of E _α = (8306 ± 5) keV was detected and identified by means of delayed α-α- and α-γ-γ-coincidence measurements. A second isomeric state decaying by α-emission was not observed. The quality of the previously reported data of the α-decay fine structure of ²¹⁷Th was improved. Received: 29 April 2002 / Accepted: 17 June 2002 / Published online: 19 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: f.p.hessberger@gsi.de Communicated by J. ?yst?     

Kinetic energies of cluster fragments in ternary fission of <Superscript>252</Superscript> Cf

The kinetic energy distribution and potential energies of fragments from the collinear cluster tripartition (CCT), the “true” ternary fission of ²⁵²Cf, have been calculated. It is assumed that the breakup of the nucleus into three fragments happens sequentially in two steps from a hyper-deformed shape. In the first step a first neck rupture occurs of the parent radioactive nucleus, forming two fragments (one of them is usually ¹³²Sn) and, in the second step, one of the two fragments breaks into two other fragments, resulting finally in three fragments (the experiment is based on a binary coincidence where a missing mass is determined). We show the result for the principal combination of the three spherical fragments (semi-magic isotopes of Sn, Ca, Ni) observed recently experimentally. These isotopes are clusters with high Q -values, which produce the highest yields in the ternary fission bump. It is shown that the kinetic energies of the middle fragments have very low values, making their experimental detection quite difficult. This fact explains why the direct detection of true ternary fission with three fragments heavier than A > 40 has escaped experimental observation.     

Identification of gamma transitions from He and Be ternary fission fragments

He and Be ternary fission processes of ²⁵²Cf have been studied in two experiments with the Gammasphere detector array with light charged particle detectors surrounding the source. From α-γ double gated spectra, neutron multiplicity distributions were determined for related α ternary fission pairs. In going from binary to α ternary SF for approximately the same mass splittings (A ≈ 104–146) the average neutron multiplicity decreases about 0.7 AMU. In the first light charged particle (LCP) γ-γ experiment, the ¹⁰Be spectrum was cutoff below 27 MeV and in the recent experiment, below 18 MeV. For high energy (E > 27 MeV) ¹⁰Be ternary fission, the data indicate that the largest yields go via the cold process (zero neutron evaporation). In the recent experiment with E cutoff of 18 MeV, the ¹⁰Be ternary SF was observed for zero to 4n emissions. It seems that in some cases like ¹³⁶Te, the On channel is the strongest and in the other cases like ¹⁰⁰Zr the 1n or 2n channel dominates. Clearly, there is a shift to lower average number of neutrons emitted for ¹⁰Be compared to α ternary SF. The ¹⁰⁴Zr and ¹³⁶Te cases where zero neutron emission occurs may be related to the fact that these nuclei are near the limits of the more neutron rich Zr and Te nuclei observed. The ¹³⁶Te is more spherical than the heavy partners in the other pairs and this may influence the 0n channel. Finally, the 0n channel may be more enhanced in the first data with the higher ¹⁰Be energy cutoff, leading to lower excitation energy. Also, we confirmed the 3368 keV peak with the FWHM of 60 keV emitted from the moving Be particles in the Doppler effect corrected spectrum.     

On the left-right asymmetry of the angular distribution of α particles from ternary nuclear fission by polarized neutrons

Some experimental possibilities of establishing the nature of the recently observed T-odd angular correlation in ternary fission of ²³³U by polarized neutrons are discussed. Specifically, investigation of the neutron energy dependence of the correlation coefficient in the ternary fission of ²³⁹Pu and ²³⁵U could shed light on the problem under discussion. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 9, 561–564 (10 November 1999)     

Angular momenta of fission fragments in the α-accompanied fission of 252Cf

For the first time, average angular momenta of the ternary fission fragments ^{100, 102}Zr, ¹⁰⁶Mo, ^{144, 146}Ba and ^{138, 140, 142}Xe from the α-accompanied fission of ²⁵²Cf were obtained from relative intensities of prompt γ-ray transitions with the use of the statistical model calculation. Average values of the angular momenta were compared with the corresponding values for the same fission fragments from the binary fission of ²⁵²Cf. Results indicate the presence of a decreasing trend in the average values of angular momenta induced in ternary fission fragments compared to the same binary fission fragments. On the average, the total angular momentum extracted for ternary fission fragments is ∼1.4 ℏ lower than in binary fission. Consequently, results indicate that the mechanism of the ternary α-particles emission may directly effect an induction of angular momenta of fission fragments, and possible scenarios of such mechanisms are discussed. Further, the dependence of the angular momenta of ¹⁰⁶Mo and ¹⁴⁰Xe on the number of emitted neutrons from correlated pairs of primary fragments was obtained also showing a decreasing dependence of average angular momenta with increasing number of emitted neutrons. Consequences are briefly discussed.     

Light particle accompanied quasifission in superheavy composite systems

The dynamics of the excited superheavy system with Z = 118 in the reaction ⁸⁶Kr + ²⁰⁸Pb at E _Kr = 460, 500, and 600 MeV has been investigated. The mass and kinetic energy of binary fragments were measured by the time-of-flight method. Double-differential distributions of protons and α particles were measured in coincidence with fragments. The proton spectra can be described considering only evaporation from fragments. Evidence of the neck fragmentation was obtained from analysis of double-differential α spectra. Properties of the α-particle neck fragmentation component are close to those known from the ternary fission of actinide nuclei, but the multiplicity is much larger than can be expected from extrapolation of the ternary fission data. The text was submitted by the authors in English.