Structures in far-out asymmetric mass distributions in low energy fission

The far-out asymmetric mass distributions for ²³⁵U(n_th, f), ²³⁹Pu(n_th, f), ²⁴³Am(n_th, f) and ²⁵²Cf(sf) have been determined. The structures in these data and those in the existing results on ²³⁸U, ²³⁴Np and ²³⁵Np have been analysed in a systematic way in terms of the static scission-point model of Wilkins et al. The model explains well all the structures seen in very asymmetric fission.     

Collinear cluster tripartition channel in the reaction 235U(n th, f)

Investigation of the ²³⁵U(n _th, f) reaction using the miniFOBOS double-arm time-of-flight spectrometer of fission fragments confirmed manifestations of the earlier unknown many-body, at least ternary, decay involving almost collinear decay-product escape, which were first observed in the spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf(sf). The use of variables sensitive to the nuclear charge of fission fragments allowed the reliability of identification of decay events to be increased and new decay modes to be revealed.     

Dependence of light charged particles parameters on Z2/A in ternary fission

Emission of light charged particles from ternary fission of ²⁴⁸Cm, ²⁵²Cf and ²³⁵U+n_th has been measured by a CsI(Tl) counter. Relative probabilities and parameters of p, t, α energy spectra in triple fission were extracted and compared with earlier reference results.     

New experimental studies on the quaternary fission of <Superscript>233, 235</Superscript>U(n<Subscript>th</Subscript>, f ) and <Superscript>252</Superscript>Cf (sf )

Experiments have been performed for studying quaternary fission (QF) in spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf, on the one hand, and for the neutron-induced fission reactions ^{233, 235}U(n_th, f ), on the other hand. In this higher-multiplicity fission mode, by definition, four charged products appear in the final state. In other words, as a generalization of the ternary-fission process, not only one but two light charged particles (LCPs) are accompanying the splitting of an actinide nucleus into the customary pair of fission fragments. In the two sets of measurements, which have used quite different approaches, the yields of several QF reactions with α-particles and tritons as the LCPs have been determined and the corresponding kinetic-energy distributions of the α-particles measured. The QF process can appear in two basically different ways: i) the simultaneous creation of two LCPs in the act of fission (“true” QF) and ii) via a fast sequential decay of a single but particle-unstable LCP in common ternary fission (“pseudo” QF). Experimentally the two varieties of QF have been distinguished by exploiting the different patterns of angular correlations between the two outgoing LCPs. The experiments described in the present paper are the first to demonstrate that both types of reactions, true and pseudo QF, occur with quite comparable probabilities. As a new result also, the kinetic-energy distributions related to the two processes have been shown to be significantly different. For all QF reactions which could be explored, the yields for ²⁵²Cf(sf) were found to be roughly by an order of magnitude larger than the yields found in the ²³³U(n_th, f ) and ²³⁵U(n_th, f ) reactions. An interesting by-product has been the measurement of yields of excited LCPs which allows to deduce nuclear temperatures at scission by comparison to the respective yields in the ground state.     

Dependence of light charged particles parameters on Z2/A in ternary fission

Emission of light charged particles from ternary fission of²⁴⁸Cm,²⁵²Cf and²³⁵U+n _th has been measured by a CsI(T1) counter. Relative probabilities and parameters of p, t,α energy spectra in triple fission were extracted and compared with earlier reference results.     

Prescission neutrons in the fission of 235U and 252Cf nuclei

Experimental data obtained previously for the energy-angular distribution of neutrons originating from the fission of ²⁵²Cf (spontaneous fission) and ²³⁵U (thermal-neutron-induced fission) nuclei are analyzed, the angle being measured with respect to the direction of fission-fragment motion. A regularity common to all independent experiments is revealed: at an angle of about 90°, there exists an excess of neutrons (30% for ²⁵²Cf and 60% for ²³⁵U) that does not admit explanation within the model of neutron emission from fully accelerated fragments. Two possible explanations of this experimental fact—neutron emission during the acceleration process and the existence of an additional source of neutrons (predominantly, prescission neutrons)—are considered. It is shown that the latter conjecture describes the observed features for both nuclei more adequately. The total yield of prescission neutrons and their energy and angular distributions are determined.     

Neutron-neutron angular correlations in spontaneous fission of <Superscript>252</Superscript>Cf

An experiment has been carried out to study neutron-neutron angular correlations in spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf. Angular dependences of the number of neutron-neutron coincidences obtained in the experiment were compared with the results of the Monte Carlo calculations for various neutron detection thresholds in the range 425–1600 keV. It was inferred that 10–11% of the total number of prompt neutrons from ²⁵²Cf (s.f.) in the laboratory system were emitted isotropically and may probably be interpreted as neutrons directly associated with the instant of scission of the nucleus. The analysis allowed their energy distribution to be determined as well. A similar method was also used to describe the angular correlation of prompt neutrons that accompanied the reaction ²³⁵U(n _th ,f).     

Prompt mass distributions in fission

A previously developed structure-sensitive statistical model, incorporating the nuclear structure and deformation effects, has been utilised to study the prompt mass distributions in fision and other related characteristics. The principle of detailed balance has been applied to calculate the yield probabilities. The fusion barriers and the penetrabilities of the fragments were estimated from a nuclear plus Coulomb interaction potential. The prompt fragment mass yields were then obtained as a product of three quantities: the product level densities of the conjugates at their most probable excitation energies, the barrier penetrabilities and the isobaric charge yields. The calculations are free from any arbitrary parameters. Comparison with experimental data for²²⁶Ra(p, f) atE _p =11.1MeV,²³²Th(n, f) atE _n =1.0 MeV,²³⁵U(n, f) and²³⁹Pu(n, f) at thermal neutron energies and for the spontaneous fission of²⁵²Cf shows fairly good agreement.     

Annealing of heavy ion radiation damage in muscovite mica and concept of single activation energy

Abstract

Annealing behaviour of heavy ion radiation damage in muscovite is studied at different temperatures. The activation energies E_a for annealing of heavy ion tracks of different energies, viz. ⁹³Nb(18.0 MeVn ^?1), ²⁰⁸Pb(17.0MeVn ^?1), ²³⁸U(10.0MeVn ^?1) and ²⁵²Cf(fission fragments), are found to be the same (～0.97 eV). The concept of a single activation energy as an intrinsic property of the detector seems to be fully justified.     

Variation of even-odd proton effects with excitation energy in fission of 252Cf: Confirmation of fine structure in v(A)

The existence of even-odd proton effects (fine structure) in νv(A) of individual fragments from ²⁵²Cf(sf) has been confirmed by analysis of previously reported data. The fine structure is seen to increase in amplitude as the fragment excitation energy decreases, a behaviour similar to the well-known behaviour of the mass yield curve. The present mass yield data also show these effects, as expected. Conversely, our total kinetic energy data TKE(A), not previously reported, show very little even-odd proton effect. It is shown that energy balance considerations, also, support the existence of even-odd proton effects in neutron emission from ²⁵²Cf(sf).     

Study of α-particles produced in thermal neutron induced reactions on 235U

The ²³⁵U(n_th, α) reaction and the α-particles emitted in the thermal neutron induced fission of ²³⁵U were measured using a very pure thermal neutron beam of the Grenoble high flux reactor. An upper limit of 0.66 mb was determined for the ²³⁵U(n_th, α) reaction cross section, which is lower than all the previous results. The energy distribution of the α-particles produced by the ²³⁵U(n_th, f) reaction was measured down to 7 MeV with a non-shielded surface-barrier detector telescope assembly. The measured distribution has a quasi-Gaussian shape; it reveals, however, a pronounced deviation from such a shape at lower α-energies. Several possible explanations for this deviation are discussed.     

Investigation of polar emission in 252Cf and 235U + nth fission

The energy distributions and relative intensities of protons, deuterons, tritons and α-particles emitted along the fission axis during spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf were measured simultaneously with both fission fragment energies. The absolute intensity of particles, the mass distribution of fragments, the total kinetic energy and total excitation energy of both fragments were subsequently deduced from the experimental data. Statistical model calculations based on a hypothesis that the polar particles are evaporated from fission fragments have been performed for ²⁵²Cf and ²³⁶U fission. Although some experimental results agree remarkably well with the evaporation hypothesis, the considered model cannot describe many features of the polar emission phenomenon.     

Influence of collective rotational degrees of freedom in medium energy fission

In the present work rms angular momenta have been deduced for the fission fragments corresponding to¹³¹Te^m,g and¹³³Te^m,g in²³²Th(α _{40 MeV},f) and²³⁸U(α _{40 MeV},f) systems from the radiochemically determined independent isomeric yield ratios and statistical model based analysis. For¹³¹Te and¹³³Te the rms angular momenta deduced are 5.9±1.0 and 7.9±1.2 ? respectively in²³²Th(α _{40 MeV},f) and 7.2±0.6 and 8.0±0.8 ? respectively in²³⁸U(α ₄₀ MeV,f). Comparison of the present data with the literature data for these fragments in the same compound nuclei²³⁶U^* and²⁴²Pu^* at lower excitation energies shows increase in the fragment angular momentum with increasing excitation energy and angular momenta of the fissioning nuclei. Fragment angular momentum deduced theoretically for asymmetric and deformed fragments on the basis of thermal equilibration of the collective rotational degrees e.g., rigid rotation, wriggling, tilting, bending and twisting modes considering the effect of multichance fission, are in good agreement with the experimental observations.     

Comparison of the spontaneous fission of 244Cm and 252Cf: (I). Fragment masses and kinetic energies

The energy of both fission fragments of ²⁴⁴Cm and ²⁵²Cf, respectively, was measured in coincidence with the prompt neutrons (see part II). Energy calibration of the surface-barrier detectors was done after the method of Schmitt et al. with the ²⁵²Cf fragments. Mean values and rms widths of the mass and energy distributions of both isotopes are calculated and compared with the results of other authors. The total kinetic energy of ²⁴⁴Cm fragments is at least as high as that of ²⁵²Cf fragments.     

Characteristics of mass and nuclear charge distributions of229th(nth,f). implications for fission dynamics

The mass and nuclear charge distributions of fission fragments from²²⁹Th(n_{th, f}) have been measured at several kinetic energies with the mass spectrometer Lohengrin (ILL-Grenoble). The average proton e-o effect, which reaches 41%, induces large oscillations in the parameters of the isotopic charge distribution. A comparison of the data from different fissile nuclei shows the importance of the last stage of the process for intrinsic excitations.     

Emission properties of fission fragments and their isomeric ratios

The properties of neutron emission from fragments formed in the spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf and in the thermal-neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵U are analyzed on the basis of the statistical model of nuclear reactions. Upon extracting the mean excitation energies of fission fragments from experimental data on the mean multiplicities of neutrons, the observables of neutron emission can be described over wide ranges of total kinetic energies and masses. The observed values of mean fragment spins are also reproduced. A method for calculating the isomeric ratios of the independent yields of fission fragments that is based on the cascade-evaporation model of excited-nucleus decay is employed to describe experimental data on ²³⁵U fission induced by thermal neutrons and on ²³⁸U fission induced by alpha particles. The effect exerted on the isomeric ratios for fission fragments by two different assumptions on the spin distributions of primary-fragment populations—the assumption of the distribution associated with rotational degrees of freedom and the assumption of the distribution associated with the internal degrees of freedom of fully accelerated fragments—is investigated.     

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 ionic charge distribution of fission products and the influence of internal conversion on highly preionized heavy ions

At the mass spectrometer LOHENGRIN of the Institut Laue-Langevin the ionic charge state distributions of²³⁵U(n _th,f)-fission products separated according to their mass, nuclear charge and kinetic energy were determined. The mean values and the widths of the ionic charge state distributions are compared with semiempirical predictions. Deviations between the experimental data and the estimation of Nicolaev and Dmitriev are found. Furthermore, the influence of the internal conversion process on the ionic charge state distribution of highly ionized fission products was established. Internal conversion is observed mainly for odd-odd nuclei and nuclei with 59 neutrons. The Auger cascade following the internal conversion process shifts the ionic charge state distribution by about 3 charge units. The yield of conversion electrons per fragment was determined in the mass range 85≦A≦103.     

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.     

Nuclear-charge polarization at scission in the 12 MeV proton-induced fission of <Superscript>232</Superscript>Th

The most probable charges of secondary fragments, produced after neutron evaporation from primary fragments, have been evaluated using fractional cumulative and mass yields in the 12MeV proton-induced fission of ²³²Th . The nuclear-charge polarization of primary fragments at scission has been obtained by correcting the most probable charge of secondary fragments for neutron evaporation. The fragment mass dependence of the nuclear-charge polarization at scission shows good agreement with that for thermal neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵U , indicating that the nuclear-charge polarization is nearly insensitive to mass and excitation energy of the fissioning nucleus for asymmetric fission in the actinide region.