L. Tassan-Got

INDRA, a 4π charged product detection array at GANIL

Abstract INDRA, a new and innovative highly segmented detector for light charged particles and fragments is described. It covers geometrically 90% of the 4π solid angle and has very low detection thresholds. The detector, operated under vacuum, is axially symmetric and segmented in 336 independent cells allowing efficient detection of high multiplicity events. Nucleus identification down to very low energy threshold (≈ 1 A MeV) is achieved by using ionization chambers operated with low pressure C 3 F 8 gas. Residual energies are measured by a combination of silicon (300 μm thick) and cesium iodide (5 to 14 cm in length) detectors. Very forward angles are covered by fast counting phoswich scintillators (NE102/NE115). Charge resolution up to Z = 50 is achieved on a large energy dynamic range (5000 to 1 for silicon detectors). Isotopic separation is obtained up to Z = 3. The treatment of the signals is performed through specifically designed and highly integrated modules, most of which are in the new VXIbus standard. Full remote control of parameter settings, including visualization of signals, is thus allowed. The detector is continuously monitored with a laser source and electronic pulsers and is found stable over several days. Energy calibration procedures, making use of specific detectors and the ability of the GANIL accelerator to deliver secondary beams, have been developed. First experiments were performed in the spring of 1993.

Projectile fission at relativistic velocities: a novel and powerful source of neutron-rich isotopes well suited for in-flight isotopic separation

Abstract Projectile fission of 238U was investigated at a bombarding energy of 750 A·MeV using a Pb target. Forward emitted fragments from 80Zn up to 155Ce were analyzed with the Fragment Separator (FRS) and unambigously identified by their energy-loss and time-of-flight. The magnetic selection of the largest momenta acted as a trigger of the low-energy fission component. More than forty new nuclear species were identified. The related isotopic production cross-sections are presented.

Discovery and cross-section measurement of 58 new fission products in projectile-fission of 750 · A MeV

Abstract The projectile fission of uranium at relativistic energy impinging on a Be target was investigated with the fragment separator, FRS, in order to produce and identify new isotopes and to measure their production yields. Fifty eight new fragments have been observed with a neutron excess of (N - Z)/Z reaching 0.8 and cross sections as small as 0.3 nb.

^{238}

The INDRA multidetector has been used to study multifragmentation processes in central collisions for the Xe + Sn reaction at 50 A MeV. A single isotropic source formed at an excitation energy of 12 A MeV exhausting most of the emitted charged products has been isolated in such collisions. The fragment kinetic energy spectra indicate a fast disintegration of the system with a radial collective motion of about 2 A MeV. The light charged particle characteristics within this scenario are also discussed.

U

Abstract The spallation of 197 Au by 800 MeV protons was investigated in inverse kinematics at GSI, Darmstadt, by use of a 197 Au beam bombarding a liquid-hydrogen target. The fragment separator (FRS) was used to select and identify the reaction products prior to β decay. The individual production cross sections and the kinematic properties of 380 isotopes for all elements between mercury ( Z=80 ) and neodymium ( Z=60 ) have been measured. A comparison with a Monte-Carlo calculation based on the two-step model of the spallation reaction is given. The isotopic cross-section distribution of iridium isotopes is compared to that resulting from the aluminium-induced fragmentation of 197 Au. The mean kinetic energies of the fragments are deduced from the experimental data. The importance of the new data to improve our understanding of the spallation mechanism is discussed.

A hot expanding source in 50 A MeV Xe+Sn central reactions

Abstract Interactions of 197Au projectiles at 800 A MeV with protons leading to fission are investigated. We measured the production cross sections and velocities of all fission residues which are fully identified in atomic and mass number by using the in-flight separator FRS at GSI. The new data are compared with earlier measurements of the characteristics of fission in similar reactions. Both the production cross sections and the recoil energies are relevant for a better understanding of spallation reactions.

Measurement of isotopic cross-sections of spallation residues in 800-A/MeV Au-197 + p collisions

Abstract The 4π array INDRA was used to detect nearly all charged products emitted in Ar + Ni collisions between 52 and 95 MeV/u. The charge, mass and excitation energy E ∗ of the quasi-projectiles have been reconstructed event by event. Excitation energies up to 25 MeV per nucleon are reached. Apparent temperatures obtained from several double isotopic yield ratios Tr0 show different dependences upon E ∗ . T6Li7Li3Heα0 yields the highest values, as well as the high energy slopes Ts of the kinetic energy spectra. Two statistical models, sequential evaporation and gas in complete equilibrium, taking into account side feeding and discrete excited states population, show that the data can be explained by a steady increase of the initial temperature with excitation energy without evidence for a liquid-gas phase transition.

Isotopic production cross sections of fission residues in 197Au-on-proton collisions at 800 A MeV

The production of heavy nuclides from the spallation-evaporation reaction of 238U induced by 1 GeV protons was studied in inverse kinematics. The evaporation residues from tungsten to uranium were identified in-flight in mass and atomic number. Their production cross-sections and their momentum distributions were determined. The data are compared with empirical systematics. A comparison with previous results from the spallation of 208Pb and 197Au reveals the strong influence of fission in the spallation of 238U.

Surveying the nuclear caloric curve

We report the first observation of the doubly magic nucleus78Ni50 and the heavy isotopes77Ni,73,74,75Co,80Cu. The isotopes were produced by nuclear fission in collisions of 750 A·MeV projectiles of238U on Be target nuclei. The fully-stripped fission products were separated in-flight by the fragment separator FRS and identified event-by-event by measuring the magnetic rigidity, the trajectory, the energy deposit, and the time of flight. Production cross-sections and fission yields for the new Ni-isotopes are given.

Evaporation residues produced in the spallation reaction 238U+p at 1 A GeV

New experimental results on the kinematics and the residue production are obtained for the interactions of