Influence of the odd neutron on the fragment characteristics in the photofission of 235U

Cumulative and independent post-neutron product yields were measured for the photofission on ²³⁵U with 6.5, 7.0, and 8.4 MeV bremsstrahlung, applying γ-spectrometric methods on catcherfoils and pneumatically transported ²³⁵U-samples. The independent yields for the heavy (A = 128–149) fragments were deduced. Post-neutron mass and isotonic yield distributions were studied together with the elemental yield distributions and the proton odd-even effect. The mass distribution shows about an equal yield for the mass regions around A = 134 (N = 82) and A = 142 (N = 86–88). The proton odd-even effect for the fission of this odd-A nucleus remains at a constant value δ_p = 25% in the studied compound nucleus excitation energy region, indicating that the odd neutron does not influence the energy transfer between the different degrees of freedom during the descent from saddle to scission point in a substantial way.     

Nuclear charge distribution of mass-separated isobars from thermal-neutron-induced fission of 235U

The nuclear charge distribution of fission products with mass numbers A = 90, 91, 94, 99, 100, 101 and 104 provided by the mass separator “Lohengrin” was measured. Adjacent elements in the group of the light fission products could be separated by their different energy loss in a carbon absorber. The Z-yields were found to be strongly dependent on the kinetic energy of the fission products. The widths of the nuclear charge distributions are very small, in general, and strongly dependent on A as well as on the kinetic energy. The influence of the neutron evaporation and odd-even effects are clearly detected. An asymmetric nuclear charge distribution was found for A = 104 indicating the suppression of fission fragments with Z = 43. The average nuclear charges of the fission products at their average kinetic energy are in good agreement with the results from measurements of the number of β-decays and K X-ray measurements. The average nuclear charge of the isobar A = 132 was measured at its average kinetic energy with a calibrated secondary electron detector to be Z = 51.14 ± 0.15 which is in very good agreement with the radiochemical results. Thus previous physical measurements indicating a large independent yield for the doubly magic nucleus ¹³²Sn could not be confirmed.     

Division of nuclear charge in the thermal neutron fission of U235

The mean primary nuclear charges of fragments from thermal neutron fission of U²³⁵ as a function of initial mass in the range 88–105 have been determined from theK-ray energy spectra of the light fragments.K- rays were registered with an argon-methane filled proportional counter in coincidence with the pulses from a pair of semiconductor detectors for complementary fission fragments. The deviation of the mean primary charge of the fragments from the “unchanged charge density” value as compared to the density of the parent nucleus U²³⁶ was found to be 0.54±0.14 charge units independent of mass in the range 88–105. No closed shell effect on the mean primary charge was found. Within about 10^?9 sec after fission aK-X ray yield of 0.057±0.012 per fission in the light fragment group was measured. The yields are nearly independant of mass in the range 88–95 corresponding to a value of 0.04 per fragment and increase up to 0.09 in the mass range 95–104, the relative accuracy being 3 to 4%.     

Excitation energy dependence of fragment characteristics for the photofission of 232Th

Independent and cumulative product yields were measured for the photofission of ²³²Th with bremsstrahlung with endpoint energies 6.5, 7.0, 8.0, 11.0, 12.0, and 14.0 MeV, applying γ spectrometric techniques on catcherfoils and pneumatically transported ²³²Th-samples. The independent heavy fragment yields for the fission of the ²³²Th compound nucleus at excitation energies in the vicinity of the fission barrier were deduced. Postneutron mass, isobaric charge, isotopic mass distributions, isotonic and elemental yield distributions and proton odd-even effects were obtained from these independent yields. In the mass distributions a maximum yield is observed for mass splits with heavy fragments in the region of A = 142, corresponding with a high production of Ba(Z = 56) - isotopes. A slightly increased yield is also observed for mass splits with heavy mass in the vicinity of A = 134. The latter effect increases with increasing compound nucleus excitation energy. The similarity between the mass distributions of the N = 142 fissioning systems ²³²Th, ²³⁴U and ²³⁶Pu is striking. For low excitation energy the proton odd-even effect in the element distributions amounts to 30%, while on the other hand no sizeable neutron odd-even effect could be deduced from the isotonic distributions. The proton odd-even effects remain constant up to compound nucleus excitation energies of about 7.85 MeV. For higher compound nucleus excitation energies the proton odd-even effect drops rapidly. A possible explanation of these observations in terms of pair breaking at the outer barrier is proposed.     

Fission yields at different fission-product kinetic energies for thermal-neutron-induced fission of 239Pu

At the recoil spectrometer “Lohengrin” of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, the yields of the light fission products from the thermal-neutron-induced fission of ²³⁹Pu were measured as a function of A, Z, the kinetic energy E and the ionic charge states q. The nuclear charge and mass distributions summed over all ionic charge states were determined for different light fissionproduct kinetic energies between 93 and 112 MeV. The proton odd-even effect which was measured to be (11.6 ± 0.6)% causes considerable fine structure in the yields. The average kinetic energy of even-Z elements in the light fission-product group is 0.3 ± 0.1 MeV larger than for odd-Z elements. The neutron odd-even effect is (6.5 ± 0.7)%. The comparison with previously published data ¹) for thermal-neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵U reveals a correlation between the proton odd-even effect in the yield and in the kinetic energy of the elements. The dependence of the proton odd-even effect on the fragmentation is very similar for ²³⁵U and ²³⁹Pu when it is considered as a function of the nuclear charge of the heavy fission products. The isobaric variances σ_z². for thermal-neutron fission of ²³⁵U and ²³⁹Pu coincide at all kinetic energies if the influence of the proton odd-even effect is averaged out. This supports the hypothesis that the magnitude of σ_z² is determined only by quantum-mechanical zero-point fluctuations. The influence of the spherical shells Z = 50 and N = 82 on the fragmentation is discussed.     

Nuclide yields of light fission products from thermal-neutron induced fission of 233U at different kinetic energies

The yields of light fission products from thermal-neutron induced fission of ²³³U are measured as a function of their mass A, their nuclear charge Z, their kinetic energy E and their ionic charge state q at the recoil spectrometer Lohengrin of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble. The mass yields are determined by intercepting the fragments with an ionization chamber of high energy resolution positioned at the focal plane of the spectrometer. The nuclear charges and their yields are determined with the same ionization chamber by measuring the residual energy of fission products, selected monoenergetically by Lohengrin, behind a passive absorber made of parylene-C. The nuclear charge resolution enabled by this detector device is considerably improved to Z/dZ = 58. The nuclear charge and mass distributions summed over all ionic charge states are listed within the mass range 79 ⩽ A ⩽ 106 at 6 energies: E = 85.34, 90.41, 95.46, 100.50, 105.55 and 110.55 MeV. The energy-integrated nuclear charge and mass yields are also given. The isotonic and isotopic yields are shown. An odd-even effect in the yields is found for the protons as well as for the neutrons at all kinetic energies. The yield weighted total odd-even effect for the protons is found to be (22.1 ± 2.1)%, for the neutrons (5.4 ± 1.7)%. An odd-even effect for the protons in the mean kinetic energy is also observed. The displacement of the mean isobaric nuclear charges from the unchanged charge-density values and the variances of the isobaric nuclear-charge distributions reveal fine structures in their mass dependences.     

Independent yields of Kr and Xe isotopes in the photofission of heavy nuclei

The yields of Kr (A = 87–93) and Xe (A = 138–143) primary fission fragments produced in ²³²Th, ²³⁸U, and ²⁴⁴Pu photofission upon the scission of a target nucleus and neutron emission were measured in an experiment with bremsstrahlung from electrons accelerated to 25 MeV by a microtron, and the results of these measurements are presented. The experimental procedure used involved the transportation of fragments that escaped from the target by a gas flow through a capillary and the condensation of Kr and Xe inert gases in a cryostat at liquid-nitrogen temperature. The fragments of all other elements were retained with a filter at the capillary inlet. The isotopes of Kr and Xe were identified by the γ spectra of their daughter products. The mass-number distributions of the independent yields of Kr and Xe isotopes are obtained and compared with similar data on fission induced by thermal and fast neutrons; the shifts of the fragment charges with respect to the undistorted charge distribution are determined. Prospects for using photofission fragments in studying the structure of highly neutron-rich nuclei are discussed.     

Langevin fission dynamics of hot rotating nuclei: Systematic application to Z 2/A=34–42 heavy nuclei

A stochastic approach that treats fission dynamics on the basis of three-dimensional Langevin equations is used to calculate the mass-energy distributions of fragments originating from the fission of compound nuclei whose fissility parameter lies in the range Z ²/A=34–42. In these calculations, use was made of the liquid-drop model allowing for finite-range nuclear forces and the diffuseness of the nuclear surface in calculating the potential energy and a modified one-body mechanism of viscosity in describing dissipation. The emission of light prescission particles is taken into account on the basis of the statistical model. The calculations performed within three-dimensional Langevin dynamics reproduce well all parameters of the experimental mass-energy distributions of fission fragments and all parameters of the prefission-neutron multiplicity for various parameters of the compound nucleus. The inclusion of the third collective coordinate in the Langevin equations leads to a considerable increase (by up to 40–50%) in the variances of mass-energy distributions in relation to what was previously obtained from two-dimensional Langevin calculations. For the parameters of the mass-energy distributions of fission fragments and the parameters of the prefission-neutron multiplicity to be reproduced simultaneously, the reduction coefficient K _s must be diminished at least by a factor of 2(0.2≤K _s ≤0.5) in relation to that in the case of total one-body viscosity (K _s =1).     

The odd-even staggering of the nuclear charge radii of Pb isotopes

Previous laser-spectroscopic studies of the hyperfine structure splittings and isotope shifts of the (6p^{2 3}P₀-6p7s ³P₁; 283.3 nm) PbI resonance line have been extended to further radioactive Pb nuclides: ^{196, 197, 197m, 211, 214}Pb Using an improved theoretical result for the specific mass shift, we recalibrate the isotope shifts of the full series (A = 196–214) of measured isotope shifts in terms of the nuclear parameter and determine the odd-even staggering parameters. The variation of the nuclear charge radii of the Pb nuclides exhibits distinct shell effects, and the odd-even staggering shows a conspicuous trend, being more pronounced for neutron-deficient Pb isotopes.     

Isotope shift of182Hg and an update of nuclear moments and charge radii in the isotope range181Hg-206Hg

The technique of collinear fast-beam laser spectroscopy has been used to measure the isotope shifts of the even-even isotopes of Hg (Z=80) in the mass range 182≤A≤198 at the on-line mass separator ISOLDE at CERN. The atomic transition studied (6s 6p ³ P ₂- 6s7s ³ S ₁,λ=546.1 nm) starts from a metastable state, which is populated in a quasi resonant charge transfer process. The resulting changes in nuclear mean square charge radii show clearly that¹⁸²Hg follows the trend of the heavier, even, weakly oblate isotopes. Correspondingly the huge odd-even shape staggering in the light Hg isotopes continues and the nuclear shape staggering and shape coexistence persists down to the last isotope investigated,¹⁸¹Hg. An update of isotope shift and hyperfine structure data for^181–206Hg is given, with a revised evaluation of the differences in nuclear mean square charge radii and of spectroscopic quadrupole moments.     

Fission fragment angular momentum in ODD-Z fissioning systems

Independent isomeric yield ratios of ¹²⁸Sb, ¹³⁰Sb, ¹³², ¹³¹Te, ¹³³Te, ¹³²I, ¹³⁴I, ¹³⁶I, ¹³⁵Xe and ¹³⁸Cs have been determined in the fast neutron induced fission of ²³⁷Np and ²⁴¹Am using radiochemical and gamma spectrometric technique. From the independent isomeric yield ratios, fragment angular momenta (J_rms) have been deduced using spin-dependent statistical model analysis. Comparison of these data with the literature data for even-Z fissioning systems shows the following important features: (i) Angular momenta for fragments with spherical 82n shell and even-Z products are lower compared to the fragments with out the 82n shell and odd-Z products indicating the effect of nuclear structure. (ii) Angular momentum of even-Z products in all the fissioning systems are comparable where as for odd-Z products it is slightly higher in the odd-Z fissioning systems than in the adjacent even-Z fissioning systems. This indicates the role of single particle on fragment angular momentum in odd-Z fissioning systems. Received: 26 March 1999 / Revised version: 16 October 1999     

Influence of nuclear dissipation on fission dynamics of the excited nucleus <Superscript>248</Superscript>Cf within a stochastic approach

A stochastic approach to fission dynamics based on two-dimensional Langevin equations was applied to calculate the anisotropy of the fission fragments angular distribution and average pre-scission neutron multiplicities for the compound nucleus ²⁴⁸Cf formed in the ¹⁶O+²³²Th reactions. Postsaddle nuclear dissipation strength of (12–14) × 10²¹ s^?1 was extracted for Cf nucleus by fitting the results of calculations with the experimental data. Furthermore, it was found that the results of calculations for the anisotropy of the fission fragments angular distribution and pre-scission neutron multiplicities are very sensitive to the magnitude of post-saddle nuclear dissipation.     

Fission products from the197Au(d,f) reaction

Cumulative and independent fission product yields of the reaction¹⁹⁷Au(d,f) were determined at a beam energy of 80 MeV at the Jülich isochronous cyclotron. Off-beamγ-ray measurements applying a catcher foil technique and chemical separation, and in inbeam kinetic energy measurements of fission products were performed. The complete yield distribution of post neutron emission fission fragments is represented by a single function, consisting of the product of two Gaussians. The mass distribution is characterized by the widthσ _A =12.5amu. The width of theZ-distribution for eachA-chain is given byσ _Z =0.63amu.     

Ternary fission fragmentation of <Superscript>252</Superscript>Cf for all possible third fragments

The ternary fragmentation of ²⁵²Cf for all possible third fragments has been investigated using the recently proposed three-cluster model within a spherical approximation and satisfying the condition A ₁ 3 \geq A ₂ 3 \geq A ₃ . The most probable ternary configurations in the fission of ²⁵²Cf accompanied with all possible third fragment mass numbers from A ₃ = 1 to 84 are predicted and their independent and overall relative yields are calculated. The calculations of the properly charge minimized potential energy surface (PES) and yield reveal that even-mass third fragments are more favored than odd ones. In the most probable configuration having the minimum in the potential energy and the maximum in yield, among the three fragments, at least one (or two) of the fragment(s) associates itself with the neutron (or proton) closed shell and in some cases even with the doubly closed shell. The calculated relative yields imply that next to ¹⁴C (the heaviest third fragment observed in the spontaneous ternary fission of ²⁵²Cf , ^{34, 36, 38}Si , ^{46, 48}Ar , and ^{48, 50}Ca are presenting themselves as the most favoured cases to be observed as the third particle in the spontaneous ternary fission of ²⁵²Cf .     

Microscopic description of fission in neutron-rich plutonium isotopes with the Gogny-D1M energy density functional

The most recent parametrization D1M of the Gogny energy density functional is used to describe fission in the isotopes ^232-280Pu . We resort to the methodology introduced in our previous studies (Phys. Rev. C 88, 054325 (2013) and Phys. Rev. C 89, 054310 (2014)) to compute the fission paths, collective masses and zero point quantum corrections within the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov framework. The systematics of the spontaneous fission half-lives t _SF , masses and charges of the fragments in plutonium isotopes is analyzed and compared with available experimental data. We also pay attention to isomeric states, the deformation properties of the fragments as well as to the competition between the spontaneous fission and α-decay modes. The impact of pairing correlations on the predicted t _SF values is demonstrated with the help of calculations for ^232–280Pu, in which the pairing strengths of the Gogny-D1M energy density functional are modified by 5% and 10%, respectively. We further validate the use of the D1M parametrization through the discussion of the half-lives in ^242–262Fm. Our calculations corroborate that, though the uncertainties in the absolute values of physical observables are large, the Gogny-D1M Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov framework still reproduces the trends with mass and/or neutron numbers and therefore represents a reasonable starting point to describe fission in heavy nuclear systems from a microscopic point of view.     

Investigation of the reaction 208Pb(18O, f): Fragment spins and phenomenological analysis of the angular anisotropy of fission fragments

The average multiplicity of gamma rays emitted by fragments originating from the fission of ²²⁶Th nuclei formed via a complete fusion of ¹⁸O and ²⁰⁸Pb nuclei at laboratory energies of ¹⁸O projectile ions in the range E _lab = 78–198.5 MeV is measured and analyzed. The total spins of fission fragments are found and used in an empirical analysis of the energy dependence of the anisotropy of these fragments under the assumption that their angular distributions are formed in the vicinity of the scission point. The average temperature of compound nuclei at the scission point and their average angular momenta in the entrance channel are found for this analysis. Also, the moments of inertia are calculated for this purpose for the chain of fissile thorium nuclei at the scission point. All of these parameters are determined at the scission point by means of three-dimensional dynamical calculations based on Langevin equations. A strong alignment of fragment spins is assumed in analyzing the anisotropy in question. In that case, the energy dependence of the anisotropy of fission fragments is faithfully reproduced at energies in excess of the Coulomb barrier (E _c.m. ? E _B ≥ 30 MeV). It is assumed that, as the excitation energy and the angular momentum of a fissile nucleus are increased, the region where the angular distributions of fragments are formed is gradually shifted from the region of nuclear deformations in the vicinity of the saddle point to the region of nuclear deformations in the vicinity of the scission point, the total angular momentum of the nucleus undergoing fission being split into the orbital component, which is responsible for the anisotropy of fragments, and the spin component. This conclusion can be qualitatively explained on the basis of linear-response theory.     

‘Slow’ residues observed in the reaction20Ne+208Pb at E/A=8.6, 11.4 and 15.0 MeV/u

Velocity distributions of heavy residuesA _Res>A _tar,Z _Res>Z _tar identified by means ofα spectroscopy, have been investigated at the velocity filter SHIP in reactions²⁰Ne+²⁰⁸Pb at projectile energies E/A=8.6, 11.4 and 15.0 MeV/u. Besides products from complete or nearly complete fusion, characterized by velocity distributions peaking atν/ν _CN?0.8–1.0, heavy residues with mean velocities of about half of the compound nucleus velocity were observed. The Z-distribution of this component was found to peak atZ=87. It is interpreted as residues from fusion of target nuclei with projectile fragments produced by nearly symmetric break-up. The experimental results were compared with predictions of theoretical models: cross sections for incomplete fusion were calculated using the sum-rule model of Wilcynski et al., while residue cross sections were calculated using the evaporation code HIVAP. A fair agreement between experimental and calculated mass distributions of heavy residues and transferred projectile fragments is achieved if an energy dissipation of ?23% (at E/A=8.6 MeV/u) and ?8% (at E/A=11.4 MeV/u) of the incident projectile energy is introduced. The observed peak of theZ-distribution atZ=87 is predominantly effected due to a higher fission probability of products withZ>87 during the deexcitation process and experimental limitations in the identification of products withZ≦86 by means of a spectroscopy, which cause a decrease of the observed production rates towards lowerZ.     

Analysis of fragment mass distribution in asymmetric area at fission of <Superscript>235</Superscript>U induced by thermal neutrons

The fragment mass yields in fission of ²³⁵U induced by thermal neutrons for A = 145–160 and E_K = 50–75 MeV were measured using a mass spectrometer. The fine structure is observed at A = 153, 154 and E_K = 50–60 MeV. The obtained results were described in the framework of a model based on the dinuclear system concept. The analyzed correlation between the total kinetic energy and mass distribution of fission fragments is connected with the shell structure of the formed fragments of fission. From this correlation and the time dependence of the calculated mass distribution of the binary reaction products, one can conclude that the descent time from a saddle point to a scission point for the more deformed fragments is longer than that for fragments of more compact shape.     

Cold fragmentation in thermal-neutron-induced fission of 233U and 235U

The mass spectrometer Lohengrin of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble was used to measure fission-fragment mass yields in the mass range 80 ≤ A ≤ 107 for light-fission-fragment kinetic energies up to about 115 MeV for the reactions ^233,235U(n_th, f). The kinetic energies corresponding to a common fixed yield level for each isobar reflect the influence of the proton pairing energy, but not of the neutron pairing energy. By using calculated Q-values for the different mass splits, mass distributions at fixed total excitation energy are deduced from the data. At a fixed total excitation energy of about 7 MeV, the yield increases from very asymmetric mass splits (A_L ≈ 80) to more symmetric mass splits (A_L ≈ 105) by more than two orders of magnitude. This strong dependence on the mass split seems to be correlated with the decreasing surface-to-surface distance of the unaccelerated fission fragments in this range of mass splits, as calculated under the assumption that the total Q-value is represented by the mutual Coulomb repulsion of the two fragments. The influence of the fission-fragment ground-state deformations on the yield in cold fragmentation could not be detected unambiguously.     

Multiparameter study of 1H, 3H and 4He in fast neutron induced fission of 235U

The emission probabilities per fission of α-particles, tritons and protons have been measured in fast neutron induced fission of ²³⁵U. The measurements were carried out at neutron energies of 120, 180, 230 and 550 keV. AΔE-E semiconductor detector telescope was used to identify different light charged particles and the fission fragments were detected with an ionization chamber. The three-parameter data corresponding to the pulse heights from the ΔE-E detectors and the ion-chamber were recorded event by event on magnetic tape and were analyzed off-line by computer. No significant variation in the most probable energy ($\text{E}$) and the standard deviation (σ_E) of the energy spectra of different light charged particles with incident neutron energy was observed, although $\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{\alpha }}$ was seen to have a slightly higher value beyond E_n = 230 keV. The yield of α-particles in fission induced by neutrons of E_n ～ 200 keV was found to be higher by about 20 % than that in thermal neutron induced fission. The yields of tritons and protons were found to increase significantly with neutron energy.