The dependence of fission time-scales on fragment mass asymmetry in the 20Ne+165Ho reaction at 50A MeV

The pre-scission and post-scission multiplicities of alpha particles were determined in coincidence with fission fragments for four windows of exit channel mass asymmetry in the reaction ²⁰Ne+¹⁶⁵Ho at 50A MeV. The technique used employed a kinematic analysis of the energy spectra of alpha particles as a function of the emission angle with respect to the fission axis. Using a procedure of fitting the experimental energy spectra with those resulting from a Monte Carlo simulation program, the total multiplicity of alpha particles was separated into pre-scission and post-scission components. Using the pre-scission and post-scission multiplicities, neutron multiplicity measurements and other empirical observations, both the initial excitation energy and the excitation energy at scission of the compound nucleus were determined. The pre-scission times in the de-excitation of a highly excited ¹⁷⁸W compound nucleus with initial excition energy of 570 MeV were evaluated using statistical model calculations. Only a small decrease in scission time was derived for the most asymmetric events studied. The possible contribution of very damped deep inelastic processes is discussed.     

Particle multiplicities in the fission-like reactions of 340 MeV Si on Th

Pre-scission and post-scission multiplicities of neutrons and alpha particles have been simultaneously measured for the fission-like reactions of 340 MeV ²⁸Si on ²³²Th. Dynamical model calculations using HICOL code predict that about 90% of the observed events are of quasi-fission type while the remaining 10% are from compound nucleus fission decay. Moving source fits were carried out to the observed neutron and alpha particle spectra, measured at different angles with respect to the fragment directions. The pre-scission and post-scission neutron multiplicities are deduced to be 8.7±2.0 and 9.4±2.0, respectively. The corresponding multiplicity values for alpha particles are found to be 0.22±0.08 and 0.1±0.03. From the measured post-scission neutron multiplicity, it is inferred that about 65±20 MeV of the initial excitation energy remains at scission. This may be compared to the value of 85±30 MeV estimated from PACE2 statistical model calculations, adjusted to reproduce the measured pre-scission neutron multiplicity. From a comparison of the Statistical Model predictions with the measured pre-scission neutron multiplicity, the fission delay is estimated to be of 5⁺⁷₋₃×10⁻²⁰ s which overlaps with the average duration of fission-like process from the contact to the scission point (2×10⁻²⁰ s) as determined from HICOL-based dynamical calculations. For the delay time deduced as above, the pre-scission alpha particle multiplicity calculated by the PACE2 code is about a factor two larger than the experimental one, demonstrating the difficulties in modelling the alpha particle emission from highly elongated shapes that characterize the fissioning system from the contact point to scission.     

Influence of nuclear dissipation on fission dynamics of the excited nucleus <Superscript>248</Superscript>Cf within a stochastic approach

A stochastic approach to fission dynamics based on two-dimensional Langevin equations was applied to calculate the anisotropy of the fission fragments angular distribution and average pre-scission neutron multiplicities for the compound nucleus ²⁴⁸Cf formed in the ¹⁶O+²³²Th reactions. Postsaddle nuclear dissipation strength of (12–14) × 10²¹ s^?1 was extracted for Cf nucleus by fitting the results of calculations with the experimental data. Furthermore, it was found that the results of calculations for the anisotropy of the fission fragments angular distribution and pre-scission neutron multiplicities are very sensitive to the magnitude of post-saddle nuclear dissipation.     

Light charged particle emission in 485 MeV 56Fe + 197Au reactions: Correlations with heavy fragments and relationships to spin and lifetime

Emission of ⁴He and ¹H has been studied in reactions of 485 MeV ⁵⁶Fe + ¹⁹⁷Au, using low-threshold detector arrays for light charged particles, and two heavy-fragment trigger detectors placed at symmetrically opposite angles with respect to the beam direction. The light charged particles were measured both in singles and in coincidence with heavy products of deeply inelastic and fission reactions detected near the grazing angle. Statistical model analyses of the data show that most of the ⁴He/¹H intensity is due to evaporation from energy equilibrated emitters both in deeply inelastic and fission reactions. In deeply inelastic reactions, the observed ⁴He/¹H emission can be attributed to evaporation from the post-scission reactant-like products, while in fusion-like fission reactions evaporation from pre- and post-scission sources are observed in comparable amounts. Angle-integrated multiplicities for ₄He and ¹H are deduced for each source of emission, and are compared with results from similar systems. The experimental ⁴He/¹H multiplicity ratios indicate roughly equal probability for ⁴He and ¹H evaporation from a given excited source. The observation of pre-scission ⁴He/¹H in fusion-like fission reactions supports the notion that thermal equilibration and subsequent particle evaporation proceed more rapidly than the collective motions that drive the system toward fission. Conversely, the lack of appreciable ⁴He/¹H emission from pre-scission sources in deeply inelastic reactions implies that the interaction times are short compared to the time required for particle evaporation.     

Fission process of superheavy nuclei

The process of fusion-fission of superheavy nuclei with Z=102?122 formed in the reactions with ²²Ne, ²⁶Mg, ⁴⁸Ca, ⁵⁸Fe and ⁸⁶Kr ions at energies near and below the Coulomb barrier has been studied. The experiments were carried out at the U-400 accelerator of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR) using a time-of-flight spectrometer of fission fragments CORSET and a neutron multi-detector DEMON. As a result of the experiments, mass and energy distributions of fission fragments, fission and quasi-fission cross sections, multiplicities of neutrons and gamma rays and their dependence on the mechanism of formation and decay of compound superheavy systems have been studied.     

Shell effects in fusion-fission of heavy and superheavy nuclei

The process of fusion-fission of heavy and superheavy nuclei (SHE) with Z=82?122 formed in the reactions with ⁴⁸Ca and ⁵⁸Fe ions at energies near and below the Coulomb barrier has been studied. The experiments were carried out at the U-400 accelerator of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR) and at the XTU Tandem accelerator of the National Laboratory of Legnaro (LNL) using the time-of-flight spectrometer of fission fragments CORSET and the neutron multi-detector DEMON. As a result of the experiments, mass and energy distributions (MED) of fission fragments, fission, quasi-fission and evaporation residues cross sections, multiplicities of neutrons and γ quanta and their dependence on the mechanism of formation and decay of compound systems have been studied.     

Measurement of fission anisotropy for 16O+181Ta

Anisotropies in fission fragment angular distributions measured for the system ¹⁶O + ¹⁸¹Ta over a range of bombarding energies from 83 MeV to 120 MeV have been analysed. It is shown that statistical transition state model (TSM) with pre-scission neutron correction described adequately the measured anisotropy data. Strong friction parameter is found to be necessary to estimate the pre-saddle to pre-scission neutron ratio.     

Frictional effects on post-scisson dynamics and fission fragment kinetic energies

Effect of friction on the post-scission motion of fission fragments is studied. It is shown that, with values of the frictional constant in the neighbourhood of those obtained from heavy-ion reaction data, no significant pre-scission kinetic energy can exist.     

Influence of pre-saddle neutrons on the fission fragment angular distribution

In the present note it is shown that distinguishing between pre-saddle and saddle-to-scission neutrons removes a discrepancy previously found [2–4] between data for the fission fragment anisotropy and an analysis in the framework of the transition state theory in which it has been assumed that all pre-scission neutrons influence the temperature at the saddle point. The analysis of the present paper requires a fairly weak (=2 * 10²¹ s ^–1) friction at compact shapes, in agreement with a previous [9,10] analysis of prescission neutron multiplicities and fission probabilities.     

Study of fission dynamics with the three-dimensional Langevin equations

The dynamics of fission has been studied by solving one- and three-dimensional Langevin equations with dissipation generated through the chaos weighted wall and window friction formula. The average prescission neutron multiplicities, fission probabilities and the mean fission times have been calculated in a broad range of the excitation energy for compound nuclei ²¹⁰Po and ²²⁴Th formed in the fusion-fission reactions ⁴He + ²⁰⁶Pb , ¹⁶O + ²⁰⁸Pb and results compared with the experimental data. The analysis of the results shows that the average prescission neutron multiplicities, fission probabilities and the mean fission times calculated by one- and three-dimensional Langevin equations are different from each other, and also the results obtained based on three-dimensional Langevin equations are in better agreement with the experimental data.     

Fission modes in charged-particle induced fission

The population of the three fission modes predicted by Brosa's multi-channel fission model for the uranium region was studied in different fissioning systems. They were produced bombarding²³²Th and²³⁸U targets by light charged particles with energies slightly above the Coulomb barrier. Though the maximum excitation energy of the compound nucleus amounted to about 22 MeV, the influences of various spherical and deformed nuclear shells on the mass and total kinetic energy distributions of fission fragments are still pronounced. The larger variances of the total kinetic energy distributions compared to those of thermal neutron induced fission were explained by temperature dependent fluctuations of the amount and velocity of alteration of the scission point elongation of the fissioning system. From the ratio of these variances the portion of the potential energy dissipated among intrinsic degrees of freedom before scission was deduced for the different fission channels. It was found that the excitation remaining after pre-scission neutron emission is mainly transferred into intrinsic heat and less into pre-scission kinetic energy.     

Gamma-ray multiplicities and fission modes in (208)Pb((18)O,f)

Two components in the M(gamma)(M) distribution were established in detailed measurements of mean gamma-ray multiplicities from fission fragments of (226)Th. For the first time in the M(gamma)(M) dependencies we were able to distinguish two components associated with primary and the final (after the neutron evaporation) fission fragments, and show that at the scission point M(gamma) is extremely sensitive to symmetric and asymmetric modes of fission. Theoretical calculations of the pre-scission shapes of the fissioning nuclei confirm our conclusions.     

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.     

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.     

Evaporation and fission decay of 132Ce compound nuclei at Ex=122 MeV: some limitations of the statistical model

Light charged particle (LCP) emission in the evaporation residue (ER) and fusion fission (FF) channels have been studied for the 200 MeV ³²S + ¹⁰⁰Mo reaction, leading to ¹³²Ce composite nuclei at E _x =122 MeV. The main goal was to study the decay of ¹³² Ce on the basis of an extended set of observables, to get insights on the fission dynamics. The proton and alpha particle energy spectra, their multiplicities, ER-LCP angular correlations, ER and FF angular distributions, and ER and FF cross-sections were measured. The measured observables were compared with the Statistical Model (SM). Using standard parameters, the model was able to reproduce only the pre-scission multiplicities and the FF and ER cross-sections. The calculation was observed to strongly overestimate the proton and alpha particle multiplicities in the ER channel. Disagreements were also observed for the ER-LCP correlations, the LCP energy spectra and the ER angular distribution. By varying the SM input parameters over a wide range of values, it is shown that it is not possible to reproduce all the observables simultaneously with a unique set of parameters. The inadequacy of the model in reproducing the ER particle multiplicities is also observed analysing data from the literature for other systems in the A ≈ 150 and E _x ≈ 100?200 MeV region. These results indicate serious limitations about the use of the SM in extracting information on fission dynamics.     

System size effects on probing nuclear dissipation with neutrons

Using a dynamical Langevin equation coupled with a statistical decay model, we calculate the excess of the pre-scission neutron multiplicities over its standard statistical-model values as a function of the nuclear dissipation strength for the three nuclei 190Os, 200Hg, and 210Po which have the same neutron-to-proton ratio N/Z. We find that by decreasing the size of the fissioning nuclei, the effects of nuclear dissipation on the excess of the pre-scission neutron multiplicity are substantially amplified, and that the sensitivity of this excess to the nuclear friction strength is considerably increased as well. We suggest that for those fissioning systems with the same N/Z that are populated in fusion reactions, to obtain a more accurate information of the nuclear dissipation strength by measuring the pre-scission neutron multiplicity, it is best to choose a system with a small size.     

Study of pre-scission particle emissions and fission probability of the ~(178)W produced in fusion reactions

A dynamical model based on one-dimensional Langevin equations was used to calculate the average pre-fission multiplicities of neutrons, light charged particles, and the fission probability for compound nucleus178 W produced in fusion reactions. The pre-scission multiplicities of particles and fission probability are calculated and compared with the experimental data over a wide range of excitation energy. A modified wall and window dissipation with a reduction coefficient, ks, has been used in the Langevin equations for reproducing experimental data. It was shown that the results of the calculations are in good agreement with the experimental data by using values of ks in the range 0.24 ks 0.47.     

Study of the Mo-Ba partition in 252Cf spontaneous fission

Measurements of fission fragment yields and neutron multiplicities have been carried out for the Mo-Ba fragment pairs in the spontaneous fission of ²⁵²Cf, using the γ-ray spectroscopy technique to analyze γ-γ-γ coincidence data. Prompt γ -ray multiplicities were also measured as a function of the number of neutrons emitted in the fission process leading to the Mo-Ba partition. We do not observe the enhancement in the yields of events with high neutron emission multiplicity (ν_n > 7) that has been associated to a second fission mode leading to the production of hyperdeformed Ba fragments, as reported in some earlier studies. The average γ-ray multiplicity is found to be rather weakly dependent on the number of neutrons emitted in the fission process. Received: 21 July 1999 / Revised version: 19 November 1999