Sequential fission process observed in the reaction (16.7 MeV/u) 238U + nat.Au using mica as dielectric track detector

✍ Scribed by Muhammad Ikram Shahzad; Imtinan Elahi Qureshi; Shahid Manzoor; Hameed Ahmed Khan

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 747 KB
• Volume: 645
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0375-9474
• DOI: 10.1016/s0375-9474(98)00554-5

✦ Synopsis

The evidence of sequential fission has been found in the heavy-ion reaction (16.7 MeV/u) 238U + nat.Au, using muscovite mica as Dielectric Track Detector (DTD) placed in a 2~--geometry configuration. The reaction products originating from the interactions of 238U ions with the atoms of gold were registered in the detector in the form of tracks and identified for performing a detailed kinematical analysis. For this purpose the spherical polar coordinates of the correlated tracks of the multipronged events have been analyzed on an event-by-event basis.

Automatic, semi-automatic and manual measuring methods have been employed to collect and manipulate the track data. The known characteristics of binary and ternary events observed in the reaction have been used for the calibration of the detectors. The computed masses, Qvalues and relative velocities of the reaction products determined in this analysis are compared with theoretical predictions based on sequential fission process. Agreement within one standard deviation with respect to the experimental values has been found for the majority of analyzed events. Therefore, it is concluded that three particles in the exit channel of the reaction are produced in two successive steps. In the first step of the reaction, two intermediate nuclei are formed as a result of an inelastic collision between projectile and target atoms while in the second step the fission of one of the intermediate nuclei of the previous step takes place. Furthermore no proximity effects have been observed. (g) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.