B. Fernández-Domínguez

Production of new neutron-rich isotopes of heavy elements in fragmentation reactions of 238U projectiles at 1A GeV

The production of heavy neutron-rich nuclei has been investigated using cold-fragmentation reactions of {sup 238}U projectiles at relativistic energies. The experiment performed at the high-resolving-power magnetic spectrometer Fragment Separator at GSI made it possible to identify 40 new heavy neutron-rich nuclei: {sup 205}Pt, {sup 207-210}Au, {sup 211-216}Hg, {sup 214-217}Tl, {sup 215-220}Pb, {sup 219-224}Bi, {sup 223-227}Po, {sup 225-229}At, {sup 230,231}Rn, and {sup 233}Fr. The production cross sections of these nuclei were also determined and used to benchmark reaction codes that predict the production of nuclei far from stability.

Transfer reactions in inverse kinematics: An experimental approach for fission investigations

Inelastic and multinucleon transfer reactions between a U-238 beam, accelerated at 6.14 MeV/u, and a C-12 target were used for the production of neutron-rich, fissioning systems from U to Cm. A Si telescope, devoted to the detection of the targetlike nuclei, provided a characterization of the fissioning systems in atomic and mass numbers, as well as in excitation energy. Cross sections and angular and excitation-energy distributions were measured for the inelastic and transfer channels. Possible excitations of the targetlike nuclei were experimentally investigated for the first time, by means of gamma-ray measurements. The decays from the first excited states of 12C, B-11, and Be-10 were observed with probabilities of 0.12-0.14, while no evidence for the population of higher-lying states was found. Moreover, the fission probabilities of U-238, Np-239 and Pu-240,Pu-241,Pu-242 and Cm-244 were determined as a function of the excitation energy.

Evaporation residues produced in spallation of Pb-208 by protons at 500-A-MeV

Abstract The production cross sections of fragmentation–evaporation residues in the reaction Pb + p at 500 A MeV have been measured using the inverse-kinematics method and the FRS spectrometer (GSI). Fragments were identified in nuclear charge using ionisation chambers. The mass identification was performed event-by-event using the B ρ – TOF – Δ E technique. Although partially-unresolved ionic charge states induced an ambiguity on the mass of some heavy fragments, production rates could be obtained with a high accuracy by systematically accounting for the polluting ionic charge states. The contribution of multiple reactions in the target was subtracted using a new, partly self-consistent code. The isobaric distributions are found to have a shape very close to the one observed in experiments at higher energy. Kinematic properties of the fragments were also measured. The total and the isotopic cross sections, including charge-pickup cross sections, are in good agreement with previous measurements and models. The data are discussed in the light of previous spallation measurements, especially on lead at 1 GeV.

Isotopic fission fragment distributions as a deep probe to fusion-fission dynamics

During the fission process, the atomic nucleus deforms and elongates up to the two fragments inception and their final separation at the scission deformation. The evolution of the nucleus energy with deformation defines a potential energy landscape in the multidimensional deformation space. It is determined by the macroscopic properties of the nucleus, and is also strongly influenced by the single-particle structure of the nucleus, which modifies the macroscopic energy minima. The fission fragment distribution is a direct consequence of the deformation path the nucleus has encountered, and therefore is the most genuine experimental observation of the potential energy landscape of the deforming nucleus. Very asymmetric fusion-fission reactions at energy close to the Coulomb barrier, produce well-defined conditions of the compound nucleus formation, where processes such as quasi-fission, pre-equilibrium emission and incomplete fusion are negligible. In the same time, the excitation energy is sufficient to reduce significantly structural effects, and mostly the macroscopic part of the potential is responsible for the formation of the fission fragments. We use inverse kinematics combined with a spectrometer to select and identify the fission fragments produced in 238U+12C at a bombarding energy close to and well-above the Coulomb barrier. For the first time, the isotopic yields are measured over the complete atomic-number distribution, between Z=30 and Z=63. In the experimental set-up, it is also possible to identify transfer-induced reactions, which lead to low-energy fission

The thick target inverse kinematics technique with a large acceptance silicon detector array

An experimental technique for studying elastic scattering using a thick gas target is described, with a measurement of the α(24Ne,α) reaction used as an example. Advantages such as ease, detector efficiency, and the possibility of measuring the cross section at 180° in the centre-of-mass are discussed. It is shown that a resolution of tens of keV is practical at zero degrees, and that the dominant contribution to the resolution for large angles is angular straggling of the beam in the entrance window. The use of helium gas as the target allows direct measurement of a-cluster states.

Study of fusion-fission in inverse kinematics with a fragment separator

The systematic study of fission fragment yields under different initial conditions provides a valuable experimental benchmark for fission models that aim to understand this complex decay channel and to predict reaction product yields. Inverse kinematics coupled to the use of a high-resolution spectrometer is shown to be a powerful tool to identify and measure the inclusive isotopic yields of fission fragments. In-flight fusion fission was used to produce secondary beams of neutron-rich isotopes in the collision of a 238U beam at 24 MeV/u with 9Be and 12C targets at GANIL using the LISE3 fragment-separator. Unique A,Z,q identification of fission products was attained with the dE-TKE-Brho-ToF measurement technique. Mass, and atomic number distributions are reported for the two reactions that show the importance of different reaction mechanisms for these two targets.