Fission-fragment energy correlation measurements for the spontaneous fission of 244Cm

Fission-fragment mass and kinetic energy distributions and their correlations have been measured for the spontaneous fission of ²⁴⁴Cm. About 3.54 × 10⁵ fission events were collected. The global mass distribution shows shoulders at μ_H ≈ 134 and μ_H ≈ 143?144. The peak/valley ratio is 86. The dip ΔE_K value at symmetry is 13.4 ± 1.5 MeV. In the yields for high-kinetic-energy selected events, the masses 139 and 144 dominate. The results of ²⁴⁴Cm are compared with the other isotopes of Cm and discussed in terms of the structures present in the potential energy surface of the fissioning system caused by the structures in the nascent fragments.