Measurement of Angular Distributions of Gamma Rays from the Inelastic Scattering of 14.1-MeV Neutrons by Carbon and Oxygen Nuclei

The results obtained by measuring the angular and energy distributions of gamma rays originating from the inelastic scattering of 14.1-MeV neutrons by carbon and oxygen nuclei are presented. The measurements in question were performed by the tagged-neutron method in a beam of an ING-27 standard portable neutron generator. The angular distributions of gamma rays emitted by the 2⁺ state of ¹²С at 4.43 MeVand the 3^? state of ¹⁶O at 6.13 MeV were obtained.     

A study of the (α, t) reaction on 19F, 27Al, 51V and 59Co

The angular distributions of tritons from the (α, t) reaction on ¹⁹F, ²⁷Al, ⁵¹V and ⁵⁹Co nuclei corresponding to the (0⁺) ground states and (2⁺) excited states in the final nuclei have been measured in the angular range between 15° and 170° at α-particle energies of 25 MeV. For reactions on ²⁷Al and ⁵¹V nuclei, the differential excitation functions have also been obtained at different angles of outgoing tritons at E_α from 20 to 25 MeV. The experimental angular distributions are analysed by the DWBA approximation on the assumption of a nucleon stripping mechanism. The analyses of the present results and the data obtained earlier for the (α, t) reaction on the 1 p shell nuclei, A ? 30, reveal that the distinguishing feature of the reaction under study is the presence of backward angle peaks in the reaction cross section, which appear to be associated with exchange processes. For the (α, t) reaction on the heavier nuclei (A > 30), the dominant mechanism is nucleon stripping.     

New data on the ternary fission of 252Cf from the Gammasphere facility

Ternary fission of ²⁵²Cf was studied at Gammasphere using eight ΔE×E particle telescopes. Helium, beryllium, boron, and carbon light charged particles (LCPs) emitted with kinetic energy more than 9, 21, 26, and 32 MeV, respectively, were identified. The 3368-keV γ transition from the first 2⁺ excited state in ¹⁰Be was found and the population probability ratio N(2⁺)/N(0⁺) = 0.160 ± 0.025 was estimated. No evidence was found for 3368-keV γ rays emitted from a triple molecular state. For the first time, charge distributions are obtained for ternary fission fragments emitted with helium, beryllium, and carbon LCPs.     

Investigations of Properties of <Superscript>89</Superscript>Y Levels with Reactor Fast Neutrons

By employing a beam of reactor fast neutrons, the spectrum of gamma rays up to an energy of 4.6MeV and their angular distributions with respect to the neutron-beamaxis aremeasured in the reaction ⁸⁹Y(n, n'γ). The multipolarities and multipole-mixture parameters for 34 gamma transitions and the spin–parities J^π of states excited in this reaction are determined. The lifetimes of the lowest 32 levels of 89Y were measured by the Doppler shift attenuation method, and the reduced probabilities for the respective gamma transitions were calculated. Levels of the K^π = +5/2⁺ and K^π = ?7/2⁺ bands associated with, respectively, prolate and oblate deformation shapes are found in ⁸⁹Y at low excitation energies.     

Effect of the concentration of components in Ni-Pd alloy sputtering

The angular distributions of Ni and Pd atoms are obtained under 3-and 10-keV Ar⁺ ion bombardment of Ni-Pd alloys with different concentrations of the components and are studied both experimentally and by computer simulation. The angular distributions of the sputtered components are studied by the methods of Rutherford backscattering and X-ray microanalysis, and the composition of the irradiated surface by Auger spectroscopy. It is established that the type of element segregating to the surface changes in passing from NiPd₃ to NiPd₅, which leads to changes in both the angular distributions and the composition of the target surface layer.     

High spin selectivity in α-particle induced reactions

Distinct maxima have been observed in the spectra of protons emitted from the ²⁴Mg(α, p)²⁷Al reaction in the region of the excitation energies of ²⁷Al between 5 and 15 MeV, where continuous spectra are expected according to the statistical model. To investigate the reaction mechanism responsible for the selective excitation of several states of ²⁷Al, angular distributions of protons in the angular range from 20° to 170° in the lab system were measured at the α-particles energies E_lab = 25.4 25.8 and 26.2 MeV. Thirteen out of thirty levels observed in proton spectra, exhibit symmetry of their angular distributions around 90° the c.m. system, when averaged over energy. The contribution of preequilibrium emission was calculated and found to be negligible. A Hauser-Feshbach analysis was carried out to determine spins of states of ²⁷Al whose angular distributions were symmetric around 90° in the c.m. system. Results of this analysis indicated high spin selectivity in the ²⁴Mg(α, p)²⁷Al reaction.     

Spins of198Au levels from the (n, γ) reaction using polarized neutrons and polarized197Au nuclei

The¹⁹⁷Au(n, γ) reaction was studied with the aid of polarized thermal neutron beams. Two kinds of experimental data were obtained: i) circular polarization of gamma rays of high energy due to capture of polarized neutrons by unoriented¹⁹⁷Au nuclei, and ii) angular distribution of such gamma rays observed after capture of polarized neutrons by polarized¹⁹⁷Au nuclei. Spins of several levels of¹⁹⁸Au could be uniquely assigned or could be restricted. The sign of the hyperfine field of Au in AuFe has been determined to be negative.     

Effects of rotation of fissioning nuclei in the angular distributions of prompt neutrons and gamma rays originating from the polarized-neutron-induced fission of 233U and 235U nuclei

The results of an experiment devoted to searches for effects of rotation of fissioning nuclei in the angular distributions of prompt neutrons and gamma rays originating from the polarized-neutron-induced fission of ²³³U nuclei are presented. The effects discovered in these angular distributions are opposite in sign to their counterparts in the polarized-neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵U nuclei. This is at odds with data on the relative signs of respective effects in the angular distribution of alpha particles from the ternary fission of the same nuclei and may be indicative of problems in the model currently used to describe the effect in question. The report on which this article is based was presented at the seminar held at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics and dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of Yu.G. Abov, corresponding member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Editor in Chief of the journal Physics of Atomic Nuclei.     

Basic parameters of the gamma-decay process and properties of the <Superscript>174</Superscript>Yb nucleus that manifest themselves in radiative resonance-and thermal-neutron capture

An independent analysis of available data on the intensities of primary gamma rays from the capture of ≈2-keV neutrons by a ¹⁷³Yb nucleus is performed. The distribution of the scatter of these intensities around the average value is approximated in various intervals of energies of primary gamma transitions. An extrapolation of the distributions obtained in this way to zero detection threshold for the intensity of a primary gamma transition makes it possible to estimate, independently of other experimental procedures, the expected number of levels of both parities for spins in the range J = 1–4 and the total possible sum of partial widths with respect to electric and magnetic dipole gamma transitions to levels whose excitation energies extend up to about 4 MeV. The results obtained in this way for the level density and the sum of radiative strength functions confirm the characteristic features of analogous data extracted from the intensities of two-step gamma-ray cascades initiated by radiative thermal-neutron capture by 40 ≤ A ≤ 200 nuclei and also make it possible to assess the sign and magnitude of their systematic uncertainty associated with a very strong dependence of radiative strength functions for cascade gamma transitions on the structure of the excited level, at least for excitation energies below half the neutron binding energy. A comparison with model concepts of the level density reveals that the ¹⁷⁴Yb nucleus is in a superfluid states for the bulk of excited levels, at least below 3.5 to 4 MeV.     

Experimental search for the effect of resonant environment on the Mössbauer absorption of gamma rays by <Superscript>57</Superscript>Fe

Due to the virtual photon exchange between atomic nuclei and the field of zero-point electromagnetic oscillations, some nuclei of a given sample are in a virtual excited state with the lifetime ～?/E, where E is the energy of nuclear level. For ⁵⁷Fe nuclei, whose first excited state has an energy of 14.4 keV, this time is equal to ～4.6×10^?20 s. If a thin ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer gamma-ray absorber is surrounded by a thick screen of the same atoms, the number of virtual excited nuclei in the absorber decreases and, at first glance, it should more strongly absorb Mössbauer gamma rays emitted by an external source and passing through the absorber. In this work, the ratio of the intensities of 14.4-keV gamma rays emitted by the ⁵⁷Fe nuclide and passing through the thin resonant absorber is measured in the absence and presence of the resonant screen around the absorber. Comparison shows that these ratios measured for the gamma source at rest and in the oscillating state differ by 0.00123±0.00075. This value should be treated as the upper limit for the desired effect under these experimental conditions.     

Investigation of γ radiation from 178Hf in the respective (n, n′γ) reaction

The spectra and angular distributions of gamma rays were measured in the reaction ¹⁷⁸Hf(n, n???) induced by a beam of fast reactor neutrons. Data onmultipole mixtures in gamma transitions and a lot of new information about gamma transitions of energy 1.5 to 3.0 MeV were obtained. A comparison of these results with information known from the respective (n, ??) reaction made it possible to refine the schemes of deexcitation of ¹⁷⁸Hf levels at energies above 1.5 MeV, to determine more precisely features of these levels, and to introduce new levels and rotation bands at excitation energies of about 2MeV.     

Mechanisms of excitation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis>-odd correlations for prescission gamma rays and structure of these correlations

Conditions for the appearance and observation of prescission gamma rays emitted by a fissioning nucleus prior to its separation into fission fragments were investigated within quantum-mechanical fission theory. It is shown that these conditions are realizable in the gamma decay of isovector electric giant dipole resonances in a fissile nucleus that are excited because of nonadiabaticity of the collective deformation motion of the nucleus at the ultimate stages of its prefission evolution. Angular and energy distributions of prescission gamma rays emitted by unpolarized fissioning nuclei are analyzed. Features of T-odd correlations in angular distributions of gamma rays arising in the fission of unpolarized target nuclei that is induced by polarized cold neutrons are investigated, and it is shown that these correlations are similar in nature to T-odd ROT correlations discovered earlier for alpha particles emitted in the ternary fission of nuclei.     

High resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy of the27Al(p,γ)28Si resonance reaction

High resolution gamma-ray spectra have been measured from the²⁷Al (p,γ)²⁸Si reaction for the resonances atE _p=2·482, 2·511 and 2·735 MeV at ϑ _pγ=0°, 30°, 55° and 90° using a Ge (Li) gamma spectrometer. From the spectra and the angular distributions the properties of the resonance states have been obtained. These states are the isobaric analogues of the levels at 4·69, 4·75 and 4·93MeV levels respectively in the parent nucleus A²⁸l.     

The electric field gradient of111Cd in an α-Al2O3 single crystal

Radioactive¹¹¹In⁺ ions were implanted into an α-Al₂O₃ single crystal. The hyperfine parameters of¹¹¹Cd at substitutional Al lattice sites were identified by measuring the perturbed angular correlation for different sample orientations. The electric field gradientV _zz =1.04(17)·10²²V/m² was obtained from the quadrupole coupling constant. This result is compared with the efg values of²⁷Al in α-alumina and¹¹¹Cd in α-Fe₂O₃, which also has the corundum structure. Two additional fractions with broad frequency distributions were observed, one of which is attributed to¹¹¹Cd atoms in a strongly distorted Al₂O₃-lattice.     

Investigation of the reaction <Superscript>208</Superscript>Pb(<Superscript>18</Superscript>O, <Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>): Folding angular distributions of fission fragments and gamma-ray multiplicity

Correlations between folding angular distributions of fission fragments and the gamma-ray multiplicity are studied for ¹⁸O + ²⁰⁸Pb interactions at energies of the beam of ¹⁸O ions in the range E _lab = 78–198.5 MeV. The probabilities are determined for complete-and incomplete-fusion processes inevitably followed by the fission of nuclei formed in these processes. It is found that the probability of incomplete fusion followed by fission increases with increasing energy of bombarding ions. It is shown that, for the incomplete-fusion process, folding angular distributions of fission fragments have a two-component structure. The width of folding angular distributions (FWHM) for complete fusion grows linearly with increasing energy of ¹⁸O ions. The multiplicity of gamma rays from fission fragments as a function of the linear-momentum transfer behaves differently for different energies of projectile ions. This circumstance is explained here by the distinction between the average angular momenta of participant nuclei in the fusion and fission channels, which is due to the difference in the probabilities of fission in the cases where different numbers of nucleons are captured by the target nucleus.     

Level structure of <Superscript>164</Superscript>Dy from the (<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>′γ) reaction

By employing a beam of reactor fast neutrons, gamma-ray spectra and angular distributions of gamma rays with respect to the neutron-beam axis were measured in the reaction ¹⁶⁴Dy(n, n′γ). The scheme of levels and gamma transitions in ¹⁶⁴Dy was composed on the basis of data published earlier and new levels, rotational bands, gamma transitions, and multipole-mixing parameters. It is concluded that the scheme of J = 0–4 levels is complete up to the excitation energy of 1.95 MeV. The commonly accepted rule in constructing K _n ^π = 0₂ ⁺ and 1₁ ⁺ rotational bands is found to be violated. The nature of the 2⁺ level at the energy of 1796.68 keV is discussed.     

Spins and level widths determined by nuclear resonance fluorescence measurements on75As

The lifetimes of the 822, 865 and 1075 keV levels in⁷⁵As, as well as the spins of the latter two levels, were determined by resonant scattering of gamma rays. The primary radiation from 3000 and 5000 Ci⁶⁰Co sources was Compton scattered to produce gamma radiation of the desired energy for photo-excitation in⁷⁵As. The lifetimes of the three levels were found to be 2.00 ps, 0.60 ps and 0.32 ps respectively. The angular distributions of the resonantly scattered radiation from the 865 keV and 1075 keV levels are consistent with spins of 5/2 and 3/2 respectively. Lifetime values are compared with excited-core model calculations.     

Investigation of multipole mixtures in gamma transitions by means of the reaction 232Th(n, n′γ)

The spectrumof gamma rays from the reaction ²³²Th(n, n′γ) induced by a beam of fast reactor neutrons and the angular distribution of the gamma rays in question with respect to this beam were measured. The multipole-mixture parameter δ was found for many gamma transitions.     

Tensor polarization of <Superscript>24</Superscript>Mg and <Superscript>28</Superscript>Si nuclei in inelastic scattering of α particles at <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis><Subscript>α</Subscript> = 30.3 MeV

Experimental and calculated angular dependences of the tensor polarization components of ²⁴Mg(2⁺, 1.369 MeV) and ²⁸Si(2⁺, 1.78 MeV) nuclei produced in inelastic scattering of α particles are presented. Tensor polarization is reconstructed on the basis of previously obtained spin-tensors of the density matrix of these nuclei. Experimental results are compared using the coupled channel method. It is demonstrated that the experimental angular dependences of components of tensor polarization are similar for the studied nuclei.     

The mixing parameter for the mixing of gamma-vibrational and ground-state bands in160Dy

The energies and relative intensities of the gamma rays depopulating the first gamma-vibrational level in¹⁶⁰Dy were determined using Ge(Li) detectors. Special care was given to the determination of the intensities of the 682-, 765-, 872-, 962-, and 1069-keV gamma rays. From the measured intensities the reducedE2 transition probability ratios were calculated for the transitions between the gamma band and ground-state band. The deduced Z₂×10³ values are: 51.9±3.5, 38.7±3.6, 31.6±5.3, 34.5±5.9, and 42.0±7.2, with an average value of 39.7±3.5. The internal conversion coefficients of the 682- and 765-keV transitions are also shown to be consistent with the theoreticalE2 values.