Heavy fragment production in He+Th reactions at 0.65–12.7 GeV

The processes of production of heavy fragments in the fission mass region in the interaction of 0.65, 1.74, 5.1, 8.8 and 12.7 GeV ⁴He with ²³²Th have been analyzed using the polycarbonate track detector Makrofol in the form of a sandwich. The decay channels ending with one, two, or more (three, four) fragments were detected. We have analyzed the events in which at least one heavy fragment (Z>20) was registered. Fragments produced in the experiment were identified and an event-by-event model-free analysis was performed in order to separate different production mechanisms. We have identified the events produced in fission, deep spallation and fragmentation processes. The cross-sections and experimental features have been determined for the various reaction mechanisms, and their variation as a function of the incident energy has been investigated.     

Interaction of 12.7 GeV He ions with U, Pb, Au and Ag targets

The processes of production of fragments Z 8 in the interactions of 12.7 GeV ⁴He with U, Pb, Au and Ag have been analyzed using the polycarbonate track detector Makrofol. A sandwich technique was used which enables direct evidence for multiple fragment emission by a single nucleus. The decay channels ending with one, two or more (three, four) fragments were detected. A classification scheme based on the multiplicity of heavy fragments M_H (Z> 20) was used in order to identify events belonging to the different reaction channels. Cross sections, excitation energies and multiplicities of intermediate mass fragments (8 Z 20) have been evaluated for various reaction mechanisms. The experimental features of the fragmentation process have been analyzed as a function of the target mass.     

Production of fragments in He+Au reaction at 12.7 GeV

The emission of fragments (A≥16) from reaction of ⁴He with ¹⁹⁷Au has been studied at bombarding energy of 12.7 GeV. Policarbonate Makrofol in sandwich form was used as a detector. Fragments produced in the experiment were identified and an event by event model-free analysis was performed. The decay channels ending with one, two or more (three, four) fragments were detected. A classification scheme based on the multiplicity (M_H) of heavy fragments (A≥40) was used in order to define multifragmentation (M_H = 0), spallation (M_H = 1) and fission (M_H = 2) events. The various experimental features of the fragmentation process are discussed.     

Measurements of fragment mass, charge and kinetic energy distributions in thermal neutron fission of U with a back-to-back ΔE-E detector system

A simultaneous measurement of mass (M), charge (Z) and kinetic energy (E_k) distributions of fragments in thermal-neutron fission of ²³⁵U has been carried out using a back-to-back ΔE-E detector system. A pair of gridded ionization chambers filled with P-5 gas measured the energy losses ΔE₁, ΔE₂ of the complementary fragments in the gas, and the residual fragment energies were measured with a pair of semiconductor detectors. The four-parameter data were analysed to obtain fragment Z-distributions using the mass-momentum conservation relations to obtain M and then using the dependence of ΔE on E/M and Z. The charge resolution for the light-fragment group was determined at the gas pressures of 44, 150, 270 Torr and the best Z-resolution was obtained at 270 Torr. The data at this latter gas pressure were analysed to obtain the variances σ²_z of the fragment charge distributions for different E_k windows and this was compared with the measured variances σ²_A of the fragment mass distribution as a function of E_k as obtained by twoparameter measurements of the correlated fragment energies. The dependence of the measured variances σ²_A, σ²_Z on E_k is considered with a view to learning about the degree of neutron-proton correlations in the nucleon exchanges taking place during the mass division in fission, in analogy with that used in the case of heavy-ion deep inelastic collisions (DIC). The variation of σ²_A/σ²_z with E_k observed in the present work, which is somewhat similar to that seen in heavy-ion DIC, implies that the fragment mass division in fission is governed by nucleon-exchange processes, where the degree of neutron-proton correlations is dependent on the total kinetic energy E_k. While for very large E_k the neutron-proton motion in the exchange processes is found to be uncorrelated, for lower E_k values the motion is seen to be correlated. Implications of these results regarding the applicability of fission models such as statistical model are pointed out.     

Production of fragments with Z≥ 8 in interaction of 12.7 GeV 4He+U, Pb, Au and Ag: track detector study

The processes of production of fragments with Z≥ 8 in the interaction of 12.7 GeV ⁴He with U, Pb, Au and Ag have been analyzed using the polycarbonate track detector Makrofol. The sandwich technique was used which enables direct observation of multiply charged fragment emission by a single nucleus. The decay channels ending with one, two, or more (three, four) fragments were detected. A classification scheme based on the multiplicity of heavy fragments with Z > 20 was used in order to identify the events belonging to the different reaction channels. The cross sections, excitation energies and multiplicities of intermediate-mass fragments 8 ≤Z≤ 20 have been determined for the various reaction mechanisms, and their variation as a function of the target mass has been investigated. Received: 28 November 1997 / Revised version: 24 April 1998     

Global features of intermediate mass fragment cross sections in Ne induced interactions

Inclusive cross sections of intermediate mass fragments (6Z16) have been measured in ²⁰Ne induced reactions on silver and gold targets at 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 MeV/u incident energies. Whereas the production yields remain approximately constant for the Ne+Ag system, they increase by a factor of two for the Ne+Au system over the same bombarding energy range. These results are discussed in the framework of two fragmentation models.     

关於热能中子所致铀235分裂时发出的中子数目的讨论

An investigation on the average number v of prompt neutrons emitted per thermal neutron induced fission of U²³⁵ has been made with the Fermi gas statistical model. Weizsacker-Fermi semi-empirical mass equation has been used in calculating the neutron binding energies of the fission fragments. Using Stern's value for the mass of U²³⁵, the total excitation energy E_e of the fission fragments has been estimated to be of the order of 10 to 20 Mev for different hypotheses regarding the primary fission products. The results of calculation (given in the third table) show that only the hypothesis of equal radioactive chain lengths together with the assumption (A) that the excitation energy E_e is shared by the two fragments in proportion to their masses yields values of v exceeding 2. The latter assumption is not in accord with the experimental finding of Fraser that the light fragment group emits on the average 30% more neutrons than does the heavy. However, a shift of mass of U²³⁵ towards larger values or of kinetic energy of fission fragments towards lower values so that 5 Mev more excitation energy is available would make v considerably larger than 2 even with the assumption (B) that the excitation energy is shared by the two fragments in inverse proportion to their masses, thus making possible conformity with Fraser's discovery. Even then, in no case has the value of v thus calculated exceeded 3 (as shown in the fourth table), which may then be taken as a theoretical upper bound for the value of ν for thermal neutron induced fission of U²³⁵. The results of this investigation are thus seen to be in harmony with the recently announced experimental value 2.5 ±0.1 for ν.     

Exotic nuclei produced by heavy-ions induced fission

About thirty nuclei in theA≈100 mass region have been produced as fission fragments following the fusion-evaporation reactions^28,30Si+¹⁷⁶Yb at 145 MeV bombarding energy. These nuclei have been individually identified from their γ-ray cascades detected with the Eurogam2 array. The level schemes of several stable or neutron-rich nuclei have been extended to higher spins. From cross coincidences between transitions in complementary fragments, γ-rays de-exciting high-spin states of new isotopes can be identified and some aspects of the fission mechanism can be analyzed.     

Angular Distributions and Anisotropy of the Fragments from Neutron-Induced Fission of <Superscript>239</Superscript>Pu and <Superscript>nat</Superscript>Pb in the Energy Range of 1–200 MeV

The angular distributions of fragments from the neutron-induced fission of ^natPb and ²³⁹Pu nuclei have been measured in the energy of range 1–200 MeV using the neutron time-of-flight spectrometer GNEIS. Fission fragments have been detected by position sensitive multiwire proportional counters. The results for the anisotropy of fission fragments deduced from the measured angular distributions have been presented. The results have been compared with the experimental data of other authors.     

Analysis of the sequential fission observed in collisions of100Mo +100Mo and120Sn +120Sn around 20 A·MeV

Events with 2, 3 and 4 heavy fragments (A≥20) detected in the reactions¹⁰⁰Mo +¹⁰⁰Mo at 18.7, 23.7 A·MeV and¹²⁰Sn +¹²⁰Sn at 18.4 A·MeV were analyzed by means of an improved version of the kinematic coincidence method. The phase-space distributions prove that 3- (and possibly 4-) body events predominantly originate from a two-step mechanism and are compatible with the hypothesis of a binary deep-inelastic interaction followed by the further fissionlike decay of one (or both) of the primary fragments. The characteristics of the fission step — mass asymmetry, relative velocity, in-plane and out-of-plane angles — have been reconstructed for the 3-body events and indications are found that nonequilibrium effects at the end of the deep-inelastic phase may influence the fissionlike decay.     

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.     

Ternary fission of nuclei in the adiabatic approximation

On the basis of a generalization of integral formulas for nuclear-decay widths to the three-body case, the spontaneous and the low-energy induced ternary fission of nuclei are investigated by using the adiabatic approximation. The properties of energy distributions, of partial fission widths, and of the angular distributions of fission fragments are analyzed for the case of ternary fission. Conditions are found under which the angular distributions of two heavy fragments originating from ternary fission are similar to the analogous distributions of fragments originating from binary fission. The features of angular distributions are investigated, along with the parities and angular momenta of the third (light) ternary-fission fragment.     

The study of prompt and delayed muon induced fission

Mass yield and total kinetic energy release (TKE) distributions of fragments from prompt and delayed muon induced fission, separately, have been measured for the isotopes²³⁵U,²³⁸U,²³⁷Np and²⁴²Pu. The distributions from prompt muon induced fission are compared with the corresponding distributions from hadronic reactions and from spontaneous fission (s.f.). The distributions from the delayed muonic fission processes are compared to the distributions for neutron and proton-induced fission. No mass distributions measured in the prompt muonic fission process show any signature, which can be attributed to the presence of the muon. Differences observed between the TKE distributions of prompt muon induced and hadron induced fission can be explained by the screening effect of the negative charge of the muon bound in the orbit of one of the fission fragments. The observed yield of symmetric muon induced fission was found to be defined merely by the value of the excitation energy.     

Low-energy fission investigated in reactions of 750 AMeV 238U-ions on 208Pb. II: Isotopic distributions

Projectile fission of 750 AMeV ²³⁸U-ions interacting with a Pb target was studied by means of the spectrometer FRS, GSI-Darmstadt. One of the two fission fragments was detected with a transmission of few percent and identified in mass and charge. Low-energy fission (E^* < 25 MeV) events were selected by their magnetic rigidity. Whereas the production of asymmetric fission events is dominated by the GDR excitation, very asymmetric fission and symmetric fission take place after a GQR or DGDR excitation or after a nuclear interaction. Cross sections of more than 250 isotopes were measured. Isotopic distributions of low-energy fission were reconstructed for elements from Se to Te. The fission modes SI, SII and SL were clearly shown in these distributions and in the mass and TKE distributions. Charge polarization and mass dispersion were deduced for each fission mode. Finally, the characteristics of the low-energy fission process explain the production rates of neutron-rich species. Received: 14 July 1997 / Revised version: 6 October 1997     

Recoil studies of fission products formed in the fission of U by protons of energies 25–85 MeV

The recoil properties of ten fission products with masses ranging from 72 to 136 formed in the fission of ²³⁸U with protons of energies 25–85 MeV have been determined radiochemically by the integral-range method. From the recoil properties of the products and the Monte Carlo cascade calculations the average kinetic energy, cascade deposition energy, and anisotropy parameter for each fission product has been calculated. The kinetic energy and the excitation energy of the primary fragments leading to the observed fission product, and the total kinetic energy and the total excitation energy of the primary fragment pair have also been calculated.

The results indicate that up to a bombarding energy of 40 MeV fission takes place predominantly by the compound nucleus mechanism, with an increasing contribution of the direct interaction mechanism as the bombarding energy increases. The kinetic energy deficit was found to decrease with increasing bombarding energy. The fission products formed from the symmetric mode of fission have a larger separation distance between the charge centres of their respective primary fragments than those for the asymmetric mode of fission.     

Temperatures and Excitation Energies of Hot Nuclei in Reactions of 40Ar+natAg,209Bi at MeV/u

Coincidence measurements of fission fragment and light charged particle have been perfotrmed for the reactions of ⁴⁰Ar+^natAg,²⁰⁹Bi at E/A=25MeV using 4 PPAC and 11 sets of ΔE-E telescopes.Angular correlations of fission fragment were ploted as a function of the folding angle between the two detected fission fragments.The linear momentum transfer distributions were derived by measuring angular correlations.The backward spectra of light particles detected in coincidence with fission fragments having different average〈LMT〉are analyzed with Maxwell distribution.After some corrections the initial temperatures of the hot nuclei are determined from the energy spectra.The excitation energies corresponding to the different average〈LMT〉are obtained considering the reaction Q values and pre-equilibrum emission.In the central collision of the ⁴⁰Ar+^natAg,²⁰⁹Bi reactions,excitation energies are measured to be about 4.2MeV/u,2.4MeV/u and temperatures about 6.1MeV,5.5MeV,respecdvely.In semi-central collision,excitaionen energies are measured to be about 3.5MeV/u,1.9MeV/u and temperatures about 5.8MeV,4.8MeV respectively.     

Ionisierung innerer Elektronenschalen bei der Abbremsung von Spaltprodukten

The subject of the present experiment was to investigate the ionisation of the inner electronic shells following the stopping of fission fragments in various materials. The ionisation in the inner shells of the stopping material as well as of the fission fragments has been detected. The measured X-ray quanta have energies from 2 kev up to 11.5 kev. The data give evidence of the ionisation crossection and its dependance from the velocity of the fission fragments. The crossection varies appreciably with the ionisation energy. It has a value ranging from (10^?17 to 10^?23) cm². Formvar as stopping material shows an ionisation crossection which increases with the tenth power of the relative velocity of the colliding particles.     

Energy partition in nuclear fission

A scission point model (two spheroid model TSM) including semi-empirical, temperature-dependent shell correction energies for deformed fragments at scission is presented. It has been used to describe the mass-asymmetry-dependent partition of the total energy release on both fragments from spontaneous and induced fission. Characteristic trends of experimental fragment energy and neutron multiplicity data as function of incidence energy in the Th — Cf region of fissioning nuclei are well reproduced. Based on model applications, information on the energy dissipated during the descent from second saddle of fission barrier to scission point have been deduced.     

Fission reactions of 469-MeV56Fe+238U: Detection of4He/1H emission from pre- and post-fission sources

The emission of⁴He and¹H has been measured in coincidence with fission for reactions of 469-MeV⁵⁶Fe+²³⁸U. By using a gas-ionization telescope in kinematic coincidence with a position-sensitive avalanche detector, the folding angle between two fission fragments was determined in order to distinguish fusion reactions from fission following smaller-momentum-transfer collisions. In both fusion fission and sequential fission reactions, the⁴He/¹H energy spectra are relatively narrow with relatively flat angular distributions at backward angles and become broader in energy with enhanced cross-sections at forward angles. The extent of forward peaking is significantly greater for peripheral collisions than for central collisions. The light-charged-particle multiplicities are quite similar for⁴He and¹H, being much larger for fusion fission than for sequential fission. Detailed comparisons of the spectral shapes with Monte Carlo simulations of reaction kinematics impose strong constraints on the participation of different emission sources. We find important contributions to the observed⁴He/¹H emission both from accelerated fragments (FE) and from the composite system prior to fission (CE). For⁴He emission, the multiplicity of CE is much larger for fusion fission than for sequential fission, possibly as a consequence of the higher spins and shorter reaction times associated with deeply inelastic and quasi-elastic processes. For¹H emission, a corresponding but somewhat smaller difference is observed for the CE multiplicities. An excess of⁴He/¹H particles, found at forward angles in both fusion and sequential fission processes, cannot be attributed to evaporative emission from any fragments and therefore must originate in pre-thermalization emission.     

A search for rare types of fission induced in silver and bromine nuclei

Ternary and quaternary fission produced in silver and bromine nuclei have been studied withK5 nuclear emulsion exposed to 1.8 GeV/cK ⁻ beams. The frequency of the ternary events is found to be ∼0.08 of that of the binary events produced in the same volume of the emulsion. The range ratio and range distribution of the fission fragments are studied and the angles between each pair of the fragments are determined. Ranges are found to vary from 5 to 40μ with a maximum number lying between 5 and 10μ. The angles between the fission fragments are found to form a broad distribution extending from 40° to 180°. A few of the events have also been analysed to give them a possible identity. A possible case of quaternary fission has also been reported. This paper was presented at the Symposium on 3rd High Energy Physics held at Bhubaneswar during November 1976.