Temperature and excitation energy of hot nuclei in the reaction of 40Ar+197Au at 25 MeV/nucleon

The coincidence measurements between heavy fission fragments and light charged particles with Z ⩽ 2 were carried out for the ⁴⁰Ar+¹⁹⁷Au reaction at 25 MeV/nucleon, to study the properties of hot nuclei in heavy ion induced reactions. The linear momentum transfers (LMTs) were deduced from the folding angle and the time-of-flight difference between two fission fragments of heavy residues. The relationship of the nuclear temperature (slope parameter of the energy spectrum) and the excitation energy was determined independently from the measurement of the kinetic energy spectra in the frames of the emitting sources and from the LMT analysis. Both the temperature and the excitation energy increase with decreasing impact parameter, which suggests that a plateau temperature of 5.5 MeV is reached at an excitation energy of 3.1 MeV/nucleon. The result was also compared with various statistical models that explain the plateau by the multifragmentation process, where the excitation energy is assumed to be stored in compression and expansion effects.     

Ternary fission involving4He emission in the16O (144 MeV)+232Th and12C (108 MeV)+197Au reactions

The results of coincidence measurements of⁴He emission with fission fragments in reactions of¹²C(108 MeV) ions with a¹⁹⁷Au target and of¹⁶O(144 MeV) ions with a²³²Th target are presented. On the basis of a Monte Carlo kinematic simulation of nuclear reactions the experimental energy spectra and velocity distributions of alpha particles have been analyzed. A conclusion has been drawn that the main source of⁴ He emission is evaporation from the fissioning compound nucleus. Substantial part of alpha particles was emitted from fully accelerated fission fragments. Some of⁴He nuclei with an average energy of about 16 MeV (in the CM system) emitted mainly perpendicular to the fission axis were identified as being similar long-range alpha particles produced in ternary fission of heavy nuclei at a low excitation energy. The emission multiplicities of these particles are considerably higher than those observed at a low excitation energy. The experimental results are compared with the statistical model predictions.     

Barriers for pion-induced fission near A = 208

Measured fission cross sections for π⁺ and π^? beams of 150 MeV on isotopically separated targets near A=208 show a smooth dependence of the fission probability on the target mass, without any indication of the increased fission barriers expected for fission at low excitation near doubly magic ²⁰⁸Pb. Extraction of fission barriers from these data is attempted for a range of possible excitation energies, finding that these barriers are near 8 MeV near A=208, without much sensitivity to the assumed excitation energy.     

The study of the (α, α'f) reaction at 120 MeV on 232Th and 238U: (I). Fission probabilities and angular distributions in the region of the giant quadrupole resonances

The fission decay channel of ²³²Th and ²³⁸U has been investigated, using the (α, α'f) reaction at 120 MeV bombarding energy. The angular distributions of the fission fragments and the fission probabilities up to around 15 MeV excitation have been measured. No evidence for the fission decay of the giant quadrupole resonance has been found, although for ²³⁸U, a weakly excited structure is seen in the (α, α'f) spectrum at about 9.5 MeV excitation at backward angles with respect to the recoil axis. This effect is similar to what has been found in a (⁶Li, ⁶Li'f) experiment reported recently. The over-all feature of the fission probability for excitation energies above the fission barrier are well reproduced by statistical calculations.     

Study of the fission decay of the isoscalar monopole resonance via the 238U(α, α′) reaction at 0°

The fission decay of ²³⁸U has been investigated using inelastic scattering of 120 MeV ga-particles to excite the ²³⁸U nucleus. Angular correlations of the fission fragments have been measured for excitation energies between 5.7 and 15.7 MeV in coincidence with inelastically scattered α-particles between 0 and 3°. The difference in yield for fission in coincidence with inelastically scattered α-particles between 0–1.35° and 1.35–3° was used to deduce the fission decay of the giant monopole resonance. It was found that in the fission decay channel (22 ± 5)% of the E0 EWSR strength is located between 8 and 15 MeV excitation energy. The distribution of the deduced monopole strength is in agreement with recent theoretical calculations predicting splitting of the giant monopole resonance in deformed nuclei.     

Fission of238U induced by136Xe for energies close to the Coulomb barrier

Excitation functions and angular distributions have been measured for fission of²³⁸U induced by¹³⁶Xe ions with bombarding energies between 4.5 and 5.9 MeV/N. Structures expected theoretically as characteristic for Coulomb fission have not been observed. The Q-value of ?(7.5±1.0) MeV measured for bombarding energies below 4.7MeV/N, however, appears to be compatible with inelastic scattering (e.g. Coulomb excitation) rather than subcoulomb transfer followed by fission. The total kinetic energy of deep inelastic events at 5.9 MeV/N is consistent with the current knowledge about mass diffusion, but also (for the highest excitation energies) with a fast fission process in the presence of the projectile.     

Radiochemical investigation of the mass distribution and probability in stopped μ− induced fission of 238U

Radiochemical measurements of 24 fission products show that the mass-split is asymmetric in stopped μ^? induced fission of ²³⁸U. The mass distribution is similar to 14 MeV neutron-induced fission. The main difference is a smaller peak-to-valley ratio no point indicating a mean excitation energy of about 20 MeV. The fission probability (prompt and delayed) is 0.15 ± 0.03 per stopped muon.     

The study of the (α, α′ f) reaction at 120 MeV on 232Th and 238U: (II). Fission barrier properties deduced from fission probabilities and angular distributions

The fission probabilities and angular distributions of the fission fragments for the (α, α'f) reaction on ²³²Th and ²³⁸U at a bombarding energy of 120 MeV have been measured from about 4 to 14 MeV excitation energy. Evidence for sub-barrier resonances has been found, the negativeparity ones occurring at the same excitation energy where photofission resonances have been observed. The data are analyzed with the two-humped barrier model. For ²³⁸U the data are reasonably well fitted with barriers similar to those known from the literature. For ²³²Th though, the outer barrier parameters are quite different: the height E_B = 6.6 MeV and the width (khω)_B = 1.2 MeV. Also for ²³²Th, introducing an additional mass symmetric and axially asymmetric outer barrier, as was previously found necessary for ²³⁸U, does not result in a good fit to the data at higher excitation energies.     

Proton induced fission of <Superscript>232</Superscript>Th at intermediate energies

The mass-energy distributions and cross sections of proton-induced fission of ²³²Th have been measured at the proton energies of 7, 10, 13, 20, 40, and 55 MeV. Experiments were carried out at the proton beam of the K-130 cyclotron of the JYFL Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä and U-150m cyclotron of the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The yields of fission fragments in the mass range A = 60–170 a.m.u. have been measured up to the level of 10?4%. The three humped shape of the mass distribution up has been observed at higher proton energies. The contribution of the symmetric component grows up with increasing proton incident energy; although even at 55 MeV of proton energy the shoulders in the mass energy distribution clearly indicate the asymmetric fission peaks. Evolution of shell structure was observed in the fission fragment mass distributions even at high excitation energy.     

The thermal-neutron-induced alpha-accompanied fission of235U investigation of the low energy part of the alpha spectrum

The energy spectrum of the α-particles emitted in the thermal-neutron induced fission of²³⁵U was measured from 11.5 MeV down to 2 MeV using the parabola mass spectrometer Lohengrin at the I.L.L. high flux reactor. This low energy part of the energy spectrum presents a smooth connection with the energy spectra which have been recently reported above 7 MeV. The overall energy spectrum, which is known to be quasi-gaussian above 12 MeV, is slightly asymmetric at low energy, where the observed particles are 6% more than expected from a gaussian shape. As a consequence, all the values reported for²³⁵U for the rate of α-accompanied fission compared to binary fission have to be multiplied by 1.06. This asymmetry is about 2 times less important than the one reported for²⁵²Cf. No evidence was seen for any intense low energy component as reported before. The possible reasons for the existence of this asymmetry are discussed.     

25MeV/u 40)Ar+209Bi裂变反应研究

实验对25MeV/u ⁴⁰Ar+²⁰⁹Bi体系的裂变反应,利用线性动量转移的分窗选择不同的激发能,研究裂变动能分布和质量分布与热核初始激发能的关系.实验证实激发能小于380MeV时裂变总动能分布与低激发能复合核相似.激发能大于380MeV时,最可几动能呈现出随激发增加而增加,并出现高能非对称性,而且质量分布宽度随激发能增加而迅速增大.     

Evidence for multiphonon giant resonances in electromagnetic fission of 238U

Differential cross sections for electromagnetic fission of 238U projectiles (500 MeV/u) in C, Sn, and Pb targets are measured and analyzed in terms of single- and multiphonon giant resonance excitations as doorway states to fission. A novel experimental method exploits the linear relationship between neutron multiplicity and the primary 238U excitation energy. Multiphonon states contribute up to 20% of the cross section; a component at high excitation energies is indicated that may arise from three-phonon dipole and two-phonon GDR x GQRiv giant resonance excitations.     

Fission accompanied by alpha particle emission in the12C(85MeV)+232Th reaction

Inclusive and coincident spectra of alpha particles and fission fragments were measured for the²³²Th+¹²C (85 MeV) reaction to study the influence of the excitation energy and the angular momentum on the fission of the compound nucleus and to separate different alpha particle emission mechanisms. At backward angles α emission can be accounted for by the evaporation processes. At forward angles the most important contribution is given by the break-up fusion process. Mass distributions for compound nuclei²⁴⁴Cm (E^*=58 MeV,ff coincidences), and²⁴⁰Pu (E^*=37 MeV,ff α coincidences) were obtained. In the case of²⁴⁰Pu mass distribution has a shape different from those obtained in light ion reactions at the same excitation energy, indicating the strong influence of the entrance channel. The dependence of the mass distribution shape on the α particle energy is also examined.     

Neutron-fission competition near threshold: The influence of shells and pairing on the decay of the 241Cm compound nucleus

The excitation functions of the reactions ²³⁸Pu(α, 2n) and ²⁴¹Am(p, 2n), both leading to ²⁴⁰Cm under fission competition, are measured between threshold and 8 MeV excess energy. The two identical excitation functions show a bump-like structure 5 MeV above threshold, which is impossible to explain by the use of statistical reaction theories with standard level density expressions. A compound reaction calculation based on shell dependent level densities for the neutron and fission channels, respectively, with the inclusion of pairing leads to a detailed understanding of the observed structure.     

Angular-distribution neutron-emission spectra of niobium following bombardment by fast neutrons

Neutron-emission spectra at ten angles between 20 and 160 degrees and incident neutron energies of 5.9, 7.1 and 8.4 MeV were measured relative to the neutron field emitted after spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf. The angular distribution of inelastically scattered neutrons appears to be essentially isotropic where it can be separated from the dominant elastic scattering peak. Above an excitation energy of 4 MeV the spectra are well described by a Maxwellian temperature distribution.     

Decay time characteristics of the U-like excited nuclei

The unified energy dependence of the induced fission times obtained by the crystal blocking technique for heavy nuclei with Z=91–94 in the range of initial excitation energy from 5 to 250 MeV was analyzed. It was demonstrated that, for excitation energies of the investigated heavy fissionable nuclei up to 60–70 MeV, the fission times can be described in the framework of the statistical theory of nuclear reactions taking into account the double-humped structure of the fission barrier and the lifetimes of both classes of excited nuclear states realized in the first and second potential wells. However, for excitation energies above 70 MeV, there is a need to consider the dynamical effects in the fission channel.     

Resonances in the isomeric and prompt fission probabilities of240Pu

The prompt and isomeric fission probabilities of²⁴⁰Pu have been studied using the²³⁹Pu(d,p) reaction. A number of resonances are observed in the subbarrier population of the 4 ns fission isomer for excitation energies between 4.0 and 6.2 MeV. Apart from a structure at 4.3 MeV, they do not coincide with transmission resonances found in prompt fission. Calculations with an extended doorway state model which simultaneously reproduce the measured delayed and prompt fission probabilities yield revised fission barrier parameters as well as spectroscopic information on fission and gamma widths of highly excited states in the second minimum.     

Symmetric and asymmetric fission in electron induced fission of 232Th

We have measured fragment kinetic energies in electron induced fission of ²³²Th for electron energies in the range 7 MeV ≦ E_e ≦ 66 MeV. The relative contribution of the distribution peak associated with high fragment kinetic energies decreases continuously with electron energy. This is interpreted as a relative increase of the symmetric fission yield as compared to the asymmetric fission yield; this fact in turn indicates a non-negligible increase in the average excitation of the fissioning nucleus, with the energy of the bombarding electrons, even above the giant dipole resonance.     

Levels in104Ru populated by the β−-decay of104Tc

Theβ ^? — andγ-activities of 18.4 min¹⁰⁴Tc have been studied with singles and coincidence measurements. Sources were prepared by chemical separation of technetium from the fission products of thermal-neutron-induced fission of²³⁵U. A revised level scheme of¹⁰⁴Ru up to an excitation energy of 4.26 MeV is proposed. Fromβ-γ coincidence measurements, aQ _β-value of 5.62±0.07 MeV has been obtained.     

Symmetric and asymmetric fission of 226Ra induced by 5 to 15 MeV neutrons

Kinetic energy spectra of fragments in the 5–15 MeV neutron-induced fission of ²²⁶Ra are obtained. The fraction of fragments corresponding to the central peak of the mass yield curve is determined for each neutron energy used. It is shown that at low excitation energies of the ²²⁷Ra compound nucleus precluding second-chance fission the mass yield curve retains its triple-peaked nature. At still lower excitations, near the fission threshold, radium undergoes asymmetric fission, just as the heavier nuclei.