Pre-existence probability for the ternary fission of Cf isotopes

Abstract

The pre-existence probability for the spontaneous ternary breakup of neutron deficient to neutron rich parent nuclei of Cf isotopes from 242Cf to 256Cf with different third fragments such as 4He, and N = Z and N ≠ Z clusters like 12,14C, 16,20O, 20,24Ne, and 48,50Ca is studied here. A simple analytical formula is used to calculate the pre-existence probability. The ternary breakup combinations are computed by the charge minimization procedure. For 4He as the third fragment, the inclusion of deformation shifts the most probable distribution of 252Cf parent system from 132Sn to 140Xe which is as per the experimental observations. An enhancement in the relative yield is observed when the distance between the main fission fragment is reduced. In the spherical calculations for A 3 = 12C and 14C, the yield distribution is identical and the heavy group remains as 132Sn but for the deformed calculations with A 3 = 14C, the light group remains the same as 114Ru for neutron-rich parent nuclei. For O and Ne clusters, with the increase in neutron number of parent system, the asymmetric yield distribution changes to symmetric one. For heavier clusters, 48Ca and 50Ca, the favorable fragmentation is observed as Sn + Ni, which is in agreement with experimental predictions.