Excitation functions for actinides produced in the interactions of 31P with 248Cm.

Abstract

Excitation functions have been measured for the production of various isotopes of Bk, Cf, Es, and Fm from the interactions of 174- and 239-MeV $^{31}\mathrm{P}$ projectiles with $^{248}\mathrm{Cm}$. The isotopic distributions were symmetric and displayed full widths at half maximum of 2.5, 2.5, and 2.25 mass units for Bk, Cf, and Fm, respectively. The maxima of the isotopic distributions occur for those reaction channels which involve the exchange of the fewest number of nucleons between the target and projectile for which the calculated excitation energy is a positive quantity. The maxima of the excitation functions occur at those projectile energies which are consistent with the calculated reaction barriers based upon a binary reaction mechanism. The effects of the odd proton in the $^{31}\mathrm{P}$ projectile on the final isotopic distributions are discussed.