Low-energy nuclear reactions in crystal structures

Results of studying low-energy nuclear reactions at the HELIS facility (LPI) are presented. Investigations of yields from DD reactions in deuterated crystal structures at deuteron energies of 10 to 25 keV show a considerable enhancement effect. It is shown that exposure of the deuterated targets to the Н⁺ (proton) and Ne⁺ beams with energies from 10 to 25 keV and an X-ray beam with the energy of 20 to 30 keV stimulates DD reaction yields. For the CVD diamond target, it is shown that its orientation with respect to the deuteron beam affects the neutron yield. The D⁺ beam is shown to cause much higher heat release in the TiD_x target than the Н⁺ and Ne⁺ beams, and this heat release depends on the deuterium concentration in the target and the current density of the deuteron beam.     

放射性核束物理研究中的一些热点问题

文章介绍了放射性核束物理的现状和进展,给出了一些目前热点的研究问题和方向,比如垒下融合反应、费米能区和高能区直接核反应、滴线核性质、非稳定核区的新幻数和新的集体运动模式等.     

Study of nuclear reactions with radioactive 17F at HRIBF

Radioactive ¹⁷F beams were produced at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) using the Isotope Separator On-Line (ISOL) technique. Two of the experiments using accelerated ¹⁷F beams to study reaction mechanisms are presented: the simultaneous emission of two protons from a resonance in ¹⁸Ne and the breakup of ¹⁷F by ²⁰⁸Pb.     

Primary chemical reactions induced by radioactive nuclear transformations

A series of chemical reactions is suggested to describe primary chemical transformations induced by Auger electrons from radioactive nuclear decay in glassy and crystalline frozen aqueous media. The mechanism is based on Mössbauer emission spectroscopy data supplemented by data on reactions in the tracks of fast positrons and electrons in an aqueous medium. It is shown that variation of temperature, the degree of crystallinity, the concentration of electron acceptors, etc., results in correlated changes in the yields of the final reaction products—Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺ or Sn²⁺, Sn⁴⁺ ions, positronium atoms, and molecular radiolytic hydrogen. These correlations indicate the similarity of chemical processes in the nanometer vicinity of decayed ⁵⁷Co and ^119mSn nuclei and in the tracks of fast positrons and electrons. This similarity is caused by the same behavior of secondary intratrack electrons produced due to ionization losses of fast positrons, electrons, and Auger electrons.     

Low-energy electron beam source

Experimental results of research into a ferroelectric-plasma-source-assisted hollow anode (HA) discharge as a source of low-energy electron beams are presented. To generate electron beams, the HA auto-bias negative voltage was achieved by the discharge current flowing through the resistor connecting the HA and the grounded electrode. It is shown that this method allows reliable and reproducible generation of low-energy electron beams with electron energy of several hundreds of eV, electron current density up to several A/cm² and pulse duration of several tens of microseconds.     

Low-energy neutron-deuteron reactions with N 3 LO chiral forces

Based on the preformed cluster model (PCM), we have extended our earlier study on cluster decays of heavy parent nuclei to analyze the effects of different nuclear proximity potentials in the ground-state clusterization of superheavy nuclei with Z = 113, 115 and 117. In order to look for the possible role of deformations, calculations are performed for spherical as well as β ₂-deformed choices of fragmentation. The relevance of “hot compact” over “cold elongated” configurations due to orientations is also explored, in addition to the role of Q value and angular momentum ℓ effects. As the PCM is based on collective clusterization picture, the preformation and penetration probabilities get modified considerably, and hence do so the decay constants and half-lives of the clusters, with the use of different nuclear proximity potentials. The comparative importance of nuclear proximity potentials Prox-1977 and Prox-2000 is analyzed and the calculated decay half-lives in the framework of PCM are compared with the recent predictions of the analytical super-asymmetric fission model (ASAFM). The possible role of shell corrections is also investigated for understanding the dynamics of heavy particle radioactivity. Finally, the potential energy surfaces are compared for different proton and neutron magic numbers in superheavy mass region.

     

Low-energy electron-induced reactions in condensed HMDSO

Reactions induced by electrons at an incident energy of 15 eV in multilayer condensed films of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) serving as model for siloxane materials have been investigated by thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS). TDS of the non-exposed material as a function of coverage reveals the subsequent formation of two phases with different desorption temperature. The higher-temperature desorption peak, ascribed to an ordered phase, vanishes more rapidly under exposure to electrons than the low-temperature peak, ascribed to a disordered phase. Production of CH₄ is also more rapid during the initial depletion of the high-temperature desorption peak of HMDSO than at higher electron exposure. This gives evidence that two physically different phases with different reactivity under electron exposure must be present already at the deposition temperature. An estimate of the HMDSO depletion cross sections for the two phases is given and possible reasons for the different reactivity are discussed.     

Low-energy exchange reactions between hydrogen isotope mesoatoms

In terms of the Faddeev-Hahn equations in the two-level approximation the exchange reactions in low-energy hydrogen isotope mesoatom collisions for the total momentumL=0 have been considered. Elastic and inelastic cross-sections of the scattering channels as well as the rates of the exchange reactions for the (d+p) and (t+p) collisions have been calculated.     

Isomeric ratios in reactions with radioactive beams

The isomeric ratios and excitation functions have been calculated for the ^112,110Cd(⁶⁽⁸⁾He,p)^117mg In and ¹¹⁴Cd(α, p)^117mg In reactions. The data obtained are compared with the refined experimental values in the reactions with α particles.     

Low-energy inelastic neutrino reactions on 4He

The inelastic scattering of neutrino off 4He is calculated microscopically at energies typical for core-collapse supernova environment. The calculation is carried out with the Argonne V18 nucleon-nucleon potential and the Urbana IX three-nucleon force. Full final state interaction is included via the Lorentz integral transform method. The contribution of axial meson exchange currents to the cross sections is taken into account from effective field theory of nucleons and pions to order O(Q3).     

Experimental nuclear astrophysics with radioactive ion beams

Reactions involving unstable nuclei play an important role in many astrophysical sites. Radioactive ion beams provide a unique tool to investigate the structure of such unstable nuclei as well as the cross sections for many reactions of astrophysical relevance. This paper provides a brief survey of some recent results in experimental nuclear astrophysics with Radioactive Ion Beams, particularly for processes which take place during explosive hydrogen burning in novae and X-ray bursts. Some prospects for future studies at next generation facilities are also briefly discussed.     

Low-energy μ− beam from the PSI anticyclotron

Negative muons of 28.6 Mev/c initial momentum were decelerated in and extracted from the PSI anticyclotron equipped with a Mylar foil in the median plane as moderator to provide a continuous μ⁻ beam of 3–30 keV energy. This technique can also be used to post-decelerate LEAR antiprotons in a continuous or pulsed mode to keV energies with an efficiency up to 10–20%.     

Nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest with radioactive beams

The ARENAS³ facility, coupling the two cyclotrons of Louvain-la-Neuve, is intensively been used over the past years for cross-section measurements of nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest. We will describe the characteristics of the available beams and the experiments going on using these beams. The ¹⁹Ne(p,γ)²⁰Na reaction, of considerable importance for the reaction flow between the CNO and the NeNa mass region in high-temperature hydrogen burning conditions, will be discussed in particular. The proposed low-energy resonance at 0.447 MeV has been measured in inverse kinematics using novel activation techniques. An upper limit (90% C.L.) of 18 meV is obtained for the strength of this first particle-unbound state of ²⁰Na together with preliminary values for the strength of the higher excited states.     

In-beam γ spectroscopy using DIC with a radioactive Ne beam

A study of deep-inelastic and multi-nucleon transfer reactions to populate neutron-rich O, Ne and F nuclei is here presented. The reaction under analysis employed a beam of radioactive ²⁴Ne at 7.9 AMeV, provided by the SPIRAL facility at Ganil, impingin on a ²⁰⁸Pb target. The reaction products have been detected in the VAMOS spectrometer in coincidence with gamma rays measured by the EXOGAM array. Preliminary results here presented show a selectivity in the population of states of different nature.     

Low-energy electron-induced reactions in thin films of glucose and N-acetyl-glucosamine

Reactions induced in thin films of α-d-glucose and N-acetylglucosamine by low-energy electron exposure at incident electron energies (E₀) between 5 eV and 15 eV have been investigated by high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). The reactions of α-d-glucose upon electron exposure were also studied in the presence of molecular oxygen. Electron exposure leads to characteristic changes of the vibrational spectra indicating that OH groups are lost with the formation of CC double bonds taking place preferentially above the ionisation threshold of the investigated molecules. At lower E₀, OH groups are equally decomposed suggesting that dissociative electron attachment contributes to the reactions but formation of double bonds is not observed. The results show that different reaction channels are effective depending on E₀ and that the outcome of electron-driven chemistry in saccharides may be controlled by changing from the subionisation regime to E₀ above the ionisation threshold. Generally, low-energy electron exposure in the absence of O₂ produces a material with lower oxygen content, i.e. leads to a reduction of the saccharide. In the case of N-acetylglucosamine, removal of the amide group from the sugar is also important at subionisation energies. In contrast, as shown for α-d-glucose, low-energy electron exposure in the presence of O₂ leads to oxidation of the sugar even at cryogenic temperature.     

Tilted foil polarization of radioactive beam nuclei

Tilted foil polarization has up to now been mostly applied to nuclear reaction products recoiling out of a target traversed by a primary particle beam. Being a universal phenomenon it can be applied equally well to beams of particles, primary or secondary, radioactive or other. There are however some technical considerations arising from the nature of the beam particles. Radioactive beams are associated with ground state nuclei. They usually have low nuclear spin and as a consequence-as will be shown later-low polarization. Secondary beams are usually low in intensity and do not impose any constraints on the foils they traverse; unlike intense primary heavy ion beams which, if they traverse the foils, essentially limit the foil material to carbon. We review here briefly the tilted foil polarization process and then discuss an experiment with an isomer beam. Finally we review experiments with radioactive beams, past, present and planned for the future.     

Synthesis and decay properties of superheavy atoms in nuclear reactions induced by stable and radioactive ion beams

This talk consists of two parts. The first one presents the results of investigations performed in 1998-2000 in Dubna on the synthesis of superheavy nuclei in reactions induced by ⁴⁸Ca ions. The radioactive decay properties of the nuclei, indicating a considerable increase in the α-decay and spontaneous fission half-lives of the isotopes of elements 110-116 when approaching the closed neutron shell at N = 184, are given. In the second part the possible ways of advancing into the region of more neutron-rich nuclei, using stable and radioactive ion beams, are discussed. Since so far no intense radioactive ion beams are available, some experiments with stable beams are considered as a test for the suggested ideas. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Low-energy proton reactions on 45Sc of interest in stellar nucleosynthesis

Differential cross sections on ⁴⁵Sc have been measured for inelastic scattering (p, p_i; i = 2–13) at lab angles of 70° and 110° in the proton energy range 2.5 to 3.5 MeV and for the (p, α_{0, 1}) reactions at 125° between 2.8 and 3.8 MeV. Angular distributions were obtained at incident energies of 2.90, 3.15 and 3.40 MeV. These data were compared with calculations performed with a Hauser-Feshbach statistical model and average parameters which have been used to calculate reaction rates during stellar nucleosynthesis. The general agreement between the calculations and the trend of the data supports the use of these calculations for reaction rates involving nuclei in excited states, a situation important during stellar silicon burning.     

Low-energy fission investigated in reactions of 750 AMeV238U-ions with Pb and Be targets

Charge distributions of fragments from low energy nuclear fission are investigated in reactions of highly fissile²³⁸U projectiles at relativistic energies (750 A·MeV) with a heavy (Pb) and a light (Be) target. The fully stripped fission fragments are separated by the Fragment Separator (FRS). Their high kinetic energies in the laboratory system allow the identification of all atomic numbers by using Multiple-Sampling Ionization Chambers (MUSIC). The elemental distributions of fragments observed at larger magnetic rigidities than the²³⁸U projectiles show asymmetric break-up and odd-even effects. They indicate a low energy fission process, induced mainly by dissociation in the electro-magnetic field for the U/Pb-system, or by peripheral nuclear interactions for the U/Be-system.