Quaternary fission in Cf244–254 isotopes with two α particles as middle fragments

Abstract

The quaternary fission of $^{244--254}\mathrm{Cf}$ isotope with two $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particles as the middle fragments in collinear configuration has been studied by taking the interacting barrier as the sum of Coulomb and nuclear proximity potential. The most favorable quaternary fission path is the one that has a high Q value and a minimum driving potential with respect to the mass and charge asymmetries. The favorable fragment combinations are obtained from the cold reaction valley plot and then calculating the yield for charge minimized fragments. For $^{244,248,254}\mathrm{Cf}$ isotopes, the highest yield is predicted for the isotope of Sb as one fragment, $^{134}\mathrm{Sb}$ ($Z=51$, $N=83$), $^{130}\mathrm{Sb}$ ($Z=51$, $N=79$), $^{132}\mathrm{Sb}$ ($Z=51$, $N=81$), respectively, whereas for $^{246}\mathrm{Cf}$ isotope, fragments with isotope of I as one fragment $^{134}\mathrm{I}$ ($Z=53$, $N=81$) possesses the highest yield. For $^{250}\mathrm{Cf}$ isotope, fragments with isotope of In as one fragment, $^{132}\mathrm{In}$ ($Z=49$, $N=83$) possesses the highest yield. In the case of $^{252}\mathrm{Cf}$ isotope, the highest yield is for the fragments with Te as one fragment, $^{132}\mathrm{Te}$ ($Z=52$, $N=80$). These findings confirm the role of doubly magic or near doubly magic nucleus in quaternary fission, which supports the conclusion by Poenaru et al. [Nucl. Phys. A 747, 182 (2005)]. The deformation and orientation of fragments has also been taken into account for the two $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ accompanied quaternary fission, and it has been found that in addition to closed shell effect, ground-state deformation also plays an important role in determining the isotopic yield in the quaternary fission process. We hope that our study on isotopic yield in quaternary fission of even-even $^{244--254}\mathrm{Cf}$ isotope will be a guide for future experiments.