Light charged particle emission and fission in238U+238U collisions at 1,740 MeV

Inclusive⁴He and⁴H energy spectra and heavy fragment coincidence correlations have been measured for reactions of 7.31 MeV/u²³⁸U with²³⁸U and^?197Au targets. The H/He production cross sections are in the range 15–26 mb, and their emission spectra are very similar for the two systems. The observed strong kinematic shifts with angle are reproduced in shape and magnitude by Monte Carlo simulations of particle evaporation from projectile-like and target-like fragments, indicating competition between charged particle emission and sequential fission. No evidence is found for high energy charged particle emission associated with ultra-highZ composite systems. Heavy fragment measurements indicate an abundance of quasielastic and deeply inelastic reaction fragments, as well as sequential fission of target and projectile nuclei. For²³⁸U nuclei, the fission occurs predominantly in an asymmetric mode, reminiscent of fission at low excitation energy. For²³⁸+²³⁸U reactions in the vicinity of the grazing angle, the frequency of single sequential fission (with survival of the partner fragment) is twice as large as double sequential fission in which both the target and projectile undergo fission. In²³⁸U+¹⁹⁷Au reactions, the survival probability of the heavy fragments is even greater. The surprisingly high survival probabilities of high-Z fragments imply a preponderance of very soft collisions in these very-heavy-ion reactions, at least at energies not very far over the Coulomb barrier.     

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.     

Correlation between fragment mass-distribution fine structure,charge distribution and nuclear structure for thermal-neutron-induced fission of 233U and 235U

Masses corresponding to observed fine-structure peaks in the fragment mass distributions for thermal-neutron-induced fission of ²³³U and ²³⁵U are shown to correspond to average measured masses for even-even nuclear charge splits. Evidence is presented that the yield enhancement for even-Z fragments is not restricted just to fission events with higher-than-average total kinetic energy. The anomalously high yield of fragments with mass 134 in ²³⁵U(n, f) as opposed to ²³³(n, f) is tentatively correlated with rapidly changing nuclear structure properties as a function of the mass of the complementary light (Z = 40) fragments.     

The reaction238U +238U at 7.42MeV/u

One-particle-inclusive measurements have been performed for the charge, kinetic energy and angular distributions of reaction products from²³⁸U +²³⁸U at 1 766MeV (7.42MeV/u) incident energy. The deep inelastic products exhibit features similar to those seen in reactions induced by medium heavy nuclei: increasing particle transfer is observed with increasing energy damping, the angular distributions are peaked near the grazing angle, they broaden significantly with increasing energy loss and/or charge transfer. The dominant reaction mechanism, however, is found to be sequential fission of one or both primary reaction products. The reconstructed primaryZ- andQ-value distributions show more particle transfer at a given energy loss than in other systems, i.e. the diffusion process seems to proceed colder in this system. This is confirmed by relatively large cross sections for surviving deep inelastic reaction products belowZ=92. A direct search forα-decay or fission of superheavy nuclei being produced in a deep inelastic reaction and being implanted in a surface barrier detector resulted in an upper cross section limit of 2 ×10^?32cm².     

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.     

Nuclear charge distribution of heavy fission fragments from thermal-neutron-induced fission of235U

Fragments from thermal-neutron induced fission of²³⁵U have been separated by a mass spectrometer with respect to their masses and kinetic energies within 1 μsec. The separation principles are briefly described. For masses 130 to 139 amu the charge distributions have been determined by counting the number of beta tracks emitted from the individual mass selected fission fragments in a nuclear photographic emulsion. In another method, the average number of beta particles for each fragment mass is determined by use of a 4π-proportional counter. The mean nuclear charge as a function of mass is compared with other experimental results and theoretical curves. Contradictory to the radiochemical results, this experiment yields a dip in the mean nuclear charge versus mass curve at mass 132 amu corresponding to the doubly magic nucleus (N=82,Z=50)¹³²Sn. Recent theoretical calculations of Nörenberg are in agreement with this finding.     

A scenario for the 220-MeV40Ar+238U reaction

Singles and coincidence charge distributions are combined to illustrate the mechanism for the 220-MeV⁴⁰Ar+²³⁸U reaction. It is found that the apparent peak in the coincidence fragment distribution corresponding toZ=82 (A=208) can be explained in terms of the fissionability of the target-like fragments produced in deep-inelastic collisions rather than as a manifestation of shell effects in compound-nucleus fission, as has been postulated for a similar system.     

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.     

Vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy of U:LiF, Cu, and U:NaF, Cu crystals

Luminescence and excitation spectra of doped LiF and NaF crystals are studied by time-resolved optical and luminescent vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectroscopy (2–40 eV energy range, T=10–295 K) with the use of synchrotron radiation of the X-ray and the VUV ranges and pulsed electron beams. Spectral kinetic parameters of luminescence and energies of excited states of U⁶⁺ ions are determined. The dominant role of the electron-hole mechanism for energy transfer to impurity centers is established. The effect of multiplication of electronic excitations is clearly manifested for E > 25 eV in NaF:U, Cu crystals and determines their high scintillation yield (137% relative to Tl:CsI when detected in the current regime).     

Fragmentation of12C nuclei in emulsion at 50 GeV/c

A total of 852¹²C-emulsion nucleus interactions at 4.2 GeV/c per incident nucleon was investigated. At least one charged projectile fragment was observed in 733 events, in which the multiplicity and angular distributions ofZ=1,2, and ≧3 projectile fragments were studied. Five events were observed in which¹²C projectile nuclei were fragmented into twoZ=3 fragments. Thus the cross section of this process is about 6×10^?3 of the inelastic cross section. The angular distribution of projectile fragments becomes narrower as the fragment charge increases. At all values of fragment charges, a pronounced peak in the angular distribution can be observed at zero emission angle. In this paper, only the projectile-fragmentation events possessing no heavily ionizing particle (n _h =0 events) have been investigated. Our sample contains 84 of these events, i.e., about 10% of the total inelastic events. The number of events withZ _max, the charge of the emitted principal fragment, equal to 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are 11, 52, 13, 4, and 4, respectively. Of these 84 events, 36 interactions have a total charge of emitted projectile fragmentsZ ^* equal to 6, i.e., as much as the beam chargeZ _p . Of the 36 events, 17 produce no charged pions and of the 17 events, 10 only represent the dissociation of¹²C→3α, i.e., 1.2% of the total inelastic interactions. The number of events withZ ^*=5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 are 27, 14, 4, 2, and 1, respectively. The average number of produced charged pions per one interacting projectile nucleon was estimated to be 1.2±0.1. This value agrees with the corresponding one in elementary interaction at the same energy per nucleon, a result pertaining to the incoherent production model in collision of two nuclei. In this class of events,n _h =0, the number of stars in which H, He, Li, Be, and B isotopes were detected are 59, 58, 13, 4, and 4, respectively. The projected angular distributions ofZ=1 and 2 projectile fragments are Gaussian shaped, narrow, consistent with isotropy, and depend on the fragment. These distributions are consistent with quantum mechanical calculations using the sudden approximation and shell-model functions. From the angular measurements ofα-particle tracks in the dissociation¹²C→3α events, the distribution ofα-particle transverse momentum inside the carbon projectile nucleus was deduced. It seems that the dissociation of¹²C→3α happens via an intermediate⁸Be state.     

Intermediate mass fragments emitted in the reaction Ag+14N at 100, 160 and 250 MeV bombarding energy

The fragments produced in the reaction between a ¹⁴N beam of various energies and a natural Ag target have been studied. The atomic numbers of the fragments have been identified up to Z = 17 by means of a E-ΔE counter telescope. The cross sections, the kinetic energy distributions as well as the angular distributions have been measured for each atomic number. The kinetic energy distributions show two components: a high-energy component (quasi-elastic), prevailing at angles close to the grazing angles and for atomic numbers close to Z = 7, and a low-energy component (relaxed), at energies close to the Coulomb repulsion energy, present at all angles and for all the Z. A detailed study of the relaxed components of the kinetic energy seems to account for both them means and the widths of these distributions on a purely statistical basis. The cross sections of the relaxed components appear to be quite large at low Z and to decrease rapidly to a fairly constant value in the region of 10 ≦ Z ≦ 17. A marked even-odd alternation in the cross sections is observed. The angular distributions are strongly forward peaked for Z < 7. For Z > 7 the forward peaking decreases rapidly until, for Z > 13, the limiting form 1/sinθ is attained. Evidence for the existence of a diffusion process along the mass asymmetry coordinate is discussed.     

Sequential emission of neutrons in the reaction16O+64Ni at 7.5–12 MeV per nucleon

Neutron energy and angular distributions have been studied in coincidence with projectilelike fragments (PF) for quasielastic and deeply inelastic collisions of¹⁶O on⁶⁴Ni at 7.5–12 MeV/u bombarding energy. The neutron yield can be explained assuming only two isotropically emitting sources:i) sequential emission from fully accelerated PF andii) evaporation from fully accelerated targetlike fragments (TF). ForZ=6 andZ=8 ejectiles known excited states in¹³C and¹⁷O could be identified. For oxygen, this suggests a direct excitation process,n pickup from the target. No significant evidence for preequilibrium neutron emission was found even at the highest bombarding energy. The TF temperatures and neutron multiplicities are consistent with the assumption that thermal equilibrium was reached during the binary reaction.     

The influence of pairing and nuclear structure on the thermal-neutron-induced fission of235U

The mass separated fission product beam provided by the mass separator “Lohengrin” has been used to determine the nuclear charge distribution for the thermal-neutron-induced fission of²³⁵U for all light fission products in the region 80≦A≦107. The measurements were performed at the most probable kinetic energy of the fission products. By using the known fission product mass yields, the independent yields for a total number of 100 nuclides were obtained under the condition of the most probable kinetic energy. The proton pairing effect modulates the average nuclear charge of the fission fragments and the isobaric charge distribution widths in a regular fashion. The probabilities of breaking a pair and of forming fragments with an energetically unfavourable neutron-to-proton ratio are found to compete with each other. Both probabilities depend on the mass split and reach their maximum values in the region of the most probable masses. The odd-even-proton effect is found to vary smoothly between 16% for the most abundant mass splits and 40% for the rare mass splits. The odd-even-neutron effect exhibits maxima nearN=50 andN=60, where it reaches 16%. These maxima and the extremely low Tcyield (0.13±0.05%) are discussed with regard to fragment shell effects.     

Systematic experimental survey on projectile fragmentation and fission induced in collisions of 238U at 1 A GeV with lead

Projectile fragmentation and fission, induced in collisions of ²³⁸U at 1 A GeV with lead, have systematically been studied. A complete survey on the isotopic production cross sections of all elements between vanadium (Z = 23) and rhenium (Z = 75) down to a cross section of 0.1 mb is given. About 600 isotopes produced in fragmentation and about 600 isotopes produced in fission were identified in the GSI fragment separator FRS from magnetic rigidities, time-of-flight values, and the energy loss in an ionisation chamber. In addition, the velocity distributions of all these reaction products have been mapped, and the products are unambiguously attributed to the different reaction mechanisms due to their kinematical properties. The results are compared with empirical systematics and previous data. The velocity of the fragments obtained in the fission process by the Coulomb repulsion allows one to reconstruct the TKE-value of the break-up and to identify the atomic number of the fissioning nucleus in hot fission. The mean velocities of light projectile fragments were found to be higher than the beam velocity.     

Dynamics of superheavy system in 86Kr + 208Pb reaction

The dynamics of the excited superheavy system with Z = 118 in the reaction ⁸⁶Kr + Pb at E _Kr = 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 neutrons and α particles were measured in coincidence with fragments. Neutron and α-particle probes were used for determination of the fragmentation time scale. 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. The total kinetic energy distribution of fragments tagged by neutrons or α particles shifts towards lower energies. Fragment yields in the symmetric region increase substantially when fragments are tagged by α particles.     

Cold fission as heavy ion emission

The last version of the analytical superasymmetric fission model is applied to study cold fission processes. Strong shell effects are present either in one or both fission fragments. A smooth behaviour is observed when the proton or the neutron numbers are changed by four units. IncreasingZ andN, in the transuranium region, a sharp transition from asymmetry with a large peak-to-valley ratio to symmetry atZ=100 and/orN=164 is obtained. The transition toward asymmetry at higherZ andN is much smoother. The most probable cold fission light fragments from²³⁴U,²³⁶U,²³⁹Np and²⁴⁰Pu are¹⁰⁰Zr,¹⁰⁴Mo,¹⁰⁶Mo and¹⁰⁶Mo, respectively, in good agreement with experimental data. The unified treatment of alpha decay, heavy ion radioactivities and cold fission is illustrated for²³⁴U — the first nucleus in which all three groups have been already observed.     

Cold deformed fission in232U(n,f) and239Pu(n,f)

Masses, charges and kinetic energies of light fission fragments from the reactions²³²U(n, f) and²³⁹Pu(n, f) induced by thermal neutrons have been measured on the Cosi fan tutte spectrometer of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble. Both at very high and very low kinetic energies marked fine structures in the mass yields and odd-even staggerings in the charge yields are observed. In the framework of a scission point model the results are shown to point to compact and deformed scission configurations, respectively, where at scission the fragments carry no intrinsic excitation energy. The two limiting processes may, therefore, be called cold compact fission (usually known as cold fission) and cold deformed fission. The latter process as a general phenomenon of low energy fission has come into focus only recently.     

On the kinetic energy of fission fragments with even and odd numbers of protons

In order to compare the distributions of the prompt energy release in the fission of a doubly even nucleus into even-Z and odd-Z fragments, the spectra of fragment kinetic energy and the coincident K X-rays were measured in a two-parameter mode with high statistical accuracy for the case of ²⁵²Cf spontaneous fission. By means of computer spectrum decomposition techniques data were obtained for average kinetic energies of fragments with even and odd atomic number. The comparison did not show any noticeable correlation of the mean fragment kinetic energy with oddness or evenness of the fragments.     

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.     

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.