Search for coulomb fission induced by 84Kr ions on 238U

We have searched for Coulomb fission induced by ⁸⁴Kr ions on a ²³⁸U target at energies ranging from the interaction barrier down to 37 MeV below (408–458 MeV lab). No event attributed to Coulomb fission was detected; it was deduced that the cross section for this reaction is lower than 0.3 mb/sr near the interaction barrier. This value was compared to theoretical predictions. However, fission events originating from transfer reactions at the interaction barrier have been detected.