Energy distribution of ternary {alpha} particles in spontaneous fission of {sup 252}Cf

Journal Article · Mon Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 2008 · Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVC.78.064616· OSTI ID:21199445

Mutterer, M; Kalben, J von ^[1]; Kopatch, Yu N ^[2]; Yamaledtinov, S R; Lyapin, V G; Sillanpaeae, M; Trzaska, W H ^[3]; Khlebnikov, S V; Tyurin, G P ^[4]

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1. Institute of Nuclear Physics, University of Technology, Darmstadt (Germany)
2. Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation)
3. Department of Physics, University of Jyvaeskylae, Jyvaeskylae (Finland)
4. V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation)

The energy distribution of the ternary {alpha} particles in spontaneous fission of {sup 252}Cf was measured. For the first time an energy threshold as low as 1 MeV was reached. The experiment used an array of unshielded silicon detectors measuring energy and time-of-flight (TOF) of ternary particles in coincidence with fission fragments. The TOF resolution of the system was sufficient for clear separation of {sup 6}He and tritons from {sup 4}He. The statistics were adequate to extract the {sup 6}He/{sup 4}He yield ratio. For both {sup 4}He and {sup 6}He, an excess in the yield (as compared to a Gaussian shape) was observed at energies below 9 MeV. The measured ternary {alpha} spectrum was corrected for the distortion induced by the detection geometry covering equatorial particle emission only. The emission angle was found to affect mainly the width of the energy distribution by up to 1 MeV.

• OSTI ID: 21199445
• Journal Information: Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 78; ISSN 0556-2813; ISSN PRVCAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ALPHA PARTICLES
ALPHA SPECTRA
ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION
CALIFORNIUM 252
DETECTION
EMISSION
ENERGY SPECTRA
FISSION FRAGMENTS
HELIUM 4
HELIUM 6
ISOTOPE RATIO
MEV RANGE 01-10
RESOLUTION
SI SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
SPONTANEOUS FISSION
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD
TRITONS