The SPIDER fission fragment spectrometer for fission product yield measurements

Abstract

The SPectrometer for Ion DEtermination in fission Research (SPIDER) has been developed for measuring mass yield distributions of fission products from spontaneous and neutron-induced fission. The 2E–2v method of measuring the kinetic energy (E) and velocity (v) of both outgoing fission products has been utilized, with the goal of measuring the mass of the fission products with an average resolution of 1 atomic mass unit (amu). The SPIDER instrument, consisting of detector components for time-of-flight, trajectory, and energy measurements, has been assembled and tested using 229Th and 252Cf radioactive decay sources. For commissioning, the fully assembled system measured fission products from spontaneous fission of 252Cf. Individual measurement resolutions were met for time-of-flight (250ps FWHM), spacial resolution (2mm FHWM), and energy (92keV FWHM for 8.376MeV). Mass yield results measured from 252Cf spontaneous fission products are reported from an E–v measurement.