Yields of fission products with masses A=131 to 135 for the fast neutron induced fission of U-238

Yields of eleven fission products with masses A=131 to 135 have been determined for the reactor neutron induced fission of²³⁸U by means of radiochemical separation combined with high-precision Ge(Li) -ray spectrometry. The charge distribution in the isobaric chains 131 to 134 and the isotopic distribution of₅₂Te have been studied.     

Quadrupole moment of the 11(-) intruder isomer in 196Pb and its implications for the 16(-) shears band head

The quadrupole moment of the 11(-) isomer in 196Pb has been measured by the level mixing spectroscopy method. This state has a pi(3s(-2)(1/2)1h(9/2)1i(13/2))11(-) configuration which is involved in most of the shears band heads in the Pb region. The first directly measured value of Q(s)(11(-)) = (-)3.41(66) b, coupled to the previously known quadrupole moment of the nu(1i(-2)(13/2))12(+) isomer allows us to estimate the quadrupole moment of the 16(-) shears band head as Q(s)(16(-)) = -0.32(10) b. The experimental values are compared to tilted axis cranking calculations, giving insight into the validity of the additivity approach to couple quadrupole moments and on the amount of deformation in the shears bands.     

Activation cross sections and isomeric ratios in reactions induced by 14.5 MeV neutrons on152Sm,154Sm and178Hf

Cross sections for the reactions¹⁵²Sm(n, p)^152g,m1,m2 Pm,¹⁵⁴Sm(n, p)^154g,m Pm,¹⁷⁸Hf(n, p)^178m,g Lu,¹⁵⁴Sm(n, d)¹⁵³Pm and¹⁵²Sm(n, α)¹⁴⁹Nd were measured at 14.5 MeV neutron energy by the activation method. On the basis of these cross sections, the associated isomeric ratios in¹⁵⁴Pm,¹⁵²Pm,¹⁷⁸Lu and the comparison with the predictions of different compound and precompound models, conclusions are drawn about the role of the preequilibrium processes in 14.5 MeV neutron induced reactions. Calculations for equal angular momentum removal by equilibrium and preequilibrium emitted particles better reproduced the experimental isomeric ratios, than for higher angular momentum removal in the preequilibrium phase. The isomeric ratios may be used as a source of additional information about the spin of the isomeric states in¹⁵²Pm and¹⁵⁴Pm for which the spectroscopic information is uncertain.     

Nuclear reactions induced by stopped negative pions in133Cs,93Nb and45Sc

The energy and angular distributions ofp, d, t,³He and⁴He from the three targets Cu, Ag and Au were measured at five different angles for bremsstrahlung with peak energy 500MeV. The measurements were made using a telescope consisting of four surface-barrier detectors. The experimental data are compared with cascade-evaporation calculations. For the⁴He-distributions the calculations were extended to include the contribution from knock-out of surface alphas by the cascade nucleons. The comparison shows that the main contribution comes from evaporation but that there is a direct component of the order of 10%.     

Indpeendent Yields of Iodine and Tellurium Isotopes in Fission of 232 Thorium with 30.5 MeV Alpha Particles

Iodine and tellurium isotopes produced in the fission of ²³²Th with 30.5 MeV alpha particles were separated using a method of sublimation in an air stream and the independent yields of ¹³⁰I, ¹³¹I, ^132m,gI, ¹³³I ¹³⁴I, ^134m,gTe, ^133mTe and ¹³⁴Te (cumulative) were determined by means of high resolution Ge(Li) γ-ray spectrometry. A Gaussian fit to the experimental data was used to obtain the width parameter σ_z and the most probable charge Z_p of the nuclear charge distribution in the isobaric chains 130 – 131. The most probable masses for fission fragments with Z = 52 and Z = 53 were also deduced from the measured fission yields.     

New excited superdeformed bands in heavy Pb nuclei: Clue for an octupole softness near the N = 118 gap at large deformation

We report the identification of six new superdeformed (SD) bands in ^197,198Pb observed with the EUROBALL IV spectrometer. The results are interpreted in the framework of cranked Hartree-Fock calculations with approximate projection on the particle number by means of the Lipkin-Nogami method. A mixing between quasi-particle excitations and an octupole vibration is suggested in the two SD isotopes. We have estimated the ordering of the neutron valence orbitals and confirm indirectly a N = 118 SD gap. Received: 20 December 2000 / Accepted: 24 January 2001     

A multimodal analytical toolkit to resolve correlated reaction pathways: the case of nanoparticle formation in zeolites

Unraveling the complex, competing pathways that can govern reactions in multicomponent systems is an experimental and technical challenge. We outline and apply a novel analytical toolkit that fully leverages the synchronicity of multimodal experiments to deconvolute causal from correlative relationships and resolve structural and chemical changes in complex materials. Here, simultaneous multimodal measurements combined diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and angular dispersive X-ray scattering suitable for pair distribution function (PDF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analyses. The multimodal experimental data was interpreted via multi-level analysis; conventional analyses of each data series were integrated through meta-analysis involving non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) as a dimensional reduction algorithm and correlation analysis. We apply this toolkit to build a cohesive mechanistic picture of the pathways governing silver nanoparticle formation in zeolite A (LTA), which is key to designing catalytic and separations-based applications. For this Ag-LTA system, the mechanisms of zeolite dehydration, framework flexing, ion reduction, and cluster and nanoparticle formation and transport through the zeolite are elucidated. We note that the advanced analytical approach outline here can be applied generally to multimodal experiments, to take full advantage of the efficiencies and self-consistencies in understanding complex materials and go beyond what can be achieved by conventional approaches to data analysis.

Multimodal in situ experimental data probing a complex reaction have been integrated via a multi-level analysis involving non-negative matrix factorization and correlation analysis. This strategy can be applied generally to multimodal experiments.     

Molecular dynamics studies of nanoconfined water in clinoptilolite and heulandite zeolites

The complete periodic series of alkali and alkaline earth cation variants (Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Rb(+), Cs(+), Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Sr(2+), and Ba(2+)) of clinoptilolite (Si : Al=5) and heulandite (Si : Al=3.5) aluminosilicate zeolites are examined by large-scale molecular dynamics utilizing a flexible SPC water and aluminosilicate force field. Calculated hydration enthalpies, radial distribution functions, and ion coordination environments are used to describe the energetic and structural components of extra-framework species while power spectra are used to examine the intermolecular dynamics. These data are correlated to evaluate the impact of ion-zeolite, ion-water, and water-zeolite interactions on the behavior of nanoconfined water. Analysis of the correlated data clearly indicates that the charge density of extra-framework cations appears to have the greatest influence on librational motions, while the anionic charge of the framework (i.e. Si:Al ratios) has a lesser impact.