Fusion-fission study at IUAC: Recent results

Abstract

Several properties observed in heavy ion induced fission led to the conclusion that fission is not always originated from fully equilibrated compound nucleus. Soon after the collision of two nuclei, it forms a di-nuclear system than can fission before a compound nucleus is formed. This process termed quasi-fission is a major hurdle to the formation of heavier elements by fusion. Fission originated before complete equilibration showed anomalously large angular anisotropy and mass distribution wider than what is expected from compound nucleus fission. The standard statistical model fails to predict the outcome of quasi-fission and currently no dynamical model is fully developed to predict all the features of quasi-fission. Though much progress has been made in recent times, a full understanding of the fission dynamics is still missing. Experiments identifying the influence of entrance channel parameters on dynamics of fusion-fission showed contrasting results. At IUAC accelerator facility many experiments have been performed to make a systematic study of fission dynamics using mass distribution, angular distribution and neutron multiplicity measurements in mass region around A ∼ 200. Recent measurement on mass distribution of fission fragment from reaction 19 F +206,208 Pb around fusion barrier energy showed the influence of multi-mode fission in enhancing the mass variance at low excitation energy. In this talk I will present some of these results.