Characterization of the multifragment decay channel in highly excited nuclei. Progress report, March 15, 1992--September 14, 1993

Abstract

Characteristics of multifragment decay in heavy-ion induced reactions at intermediate energies are explored. Evolution of the timescale for emission of intermediate mass fragments (IMF: 3{le}Z{le}20) is investigated. Fragments associated with central collisions in the reactions {sup 36}Ar + {sup 197}Au at E/A = 50, 80, and 110 MeV are emitted on an extremely fast timescale, {tau} {le} 75 fm/c, comparable to the transit time of the projectile past the target nucleus. With increasing incident energy, mean fragment emission times decrease, consistent with statistical decay from highly excited systems or fast dynamical processes. To examine the importance of expansion effects in multifragmentation, the transverse kinetic energy of fragments was investigated. Evidence for expansion effects in the system {sup 36}Ar + {sup 197}Au at E/A = 50, 80, and 110 MeV was indicated by the charge dependence of the mean isotropic kinetic energy. At the highest incident energy the data suggest the onset of volume emission. Construction and performance of low-threshold high-resolution detector telescopes is discussed. Three-body Coulomb trajectory calculations are being used to probe kinematical correlations associated with neck emission of IMFs during fission. Initial design and testing of position sensitive parallel plate avalanche counters for upcoming ternary fission experiments is discussed.