Detection Of Fission Fragments Research Articles

Fission dynamics with systems of intermediate fissility

A 4π light charged particle spectrometer, called 8π LP, is in operation at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy, for studying reaction mechanisms in low-energy heavy-ion reactions. Besides about 300 telescopes to detect light charged particles, the spectrometer is also equipped with an anular PPAC system to detect evaporation residues and a two-arm time-of-flight spectrometer to detect fission fragments. The spectrometer has been used in several fission dynamics studies using as a probe light charged particles in the fission and evaporation residues (ER) channels. This paper proposes a journey within some open questions about the fission dynamics and a review of the main results concerning nuclear dissipation and fission time-scale obtained from several of these studies. In particular, the advantages of using systems of intermediate fissility will be discussed.

Neutron-induced fission cross section ofPu240from 0.5 MeV to 3 MeV

$^{240}\mathrm{Pu}$ has recently been pointed out by a sensitivity study of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) to be one of the isotopes whose fission cross section lacks accuracy to meet the upcoming needs for the future generation of nuclear power plants (GEN-IV). In the High Priority Request List (HPRL) of the OECD, it is suggested that the knowledge of the $^{240}\mathrm{Pu}(n,f)$ cross section should be improved to an accuracy within 1--3 %, compared to the present 5%. A measurement of the $^{240}\mathrm{Pu}$ cross section has been performed at the Van de Graaff accelerator of the Joint Research Center (JRC) Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) using quasi-monoenergetic neutrons in the energy range from 0.5 MeV to 3 MeV. A twin Frisch-grid ionization chamber (TFGIC) has been used in a back-to-back configuration as fission fragment detector. The $^{240}\mathrm{Pu}(n,f)$ cross section has been normalized to three different isotopes: $^{237}\mathrm{Np}(n,f)$, ${}^{235}\mathrm{U}(n,f)$, and ${}^{238}\mathrm{U}(n,f)$. Additionally, the secondary standard reactions were benchmarked through measurements against the primary standard reaction ${}^{235}\mathrm{U}(n,f)$ in the same geometry. A comprehensive study of the corrections applied to the data and the associated uncertainties is given. The results obtained are in agreement with previous experimental data at the threshold region. For neutron energies higher than 1 MeV, the results of this experiment are slightly lower than the ENDF/B-VII.1 evaluation, but in agreement with the experiments of Laptev et al. (2004) as well as Staples and Morley (1998).

Detection of ternary and quaternary fission fragments from 252Cf with a position-sensitive ΔE-E telescope based on silicon detectors

The silicon based pixel detector Timepix is a multi-parameter detector which gives simultaneously information about position, energy and arrival time of a particle hitting the detector. Applying the ΔE-E method with these detectors makes it possible to determine types of detected particles, separating them by charge. Using a thin silicon detector with thickness of 12 μm combined with a Timepix (300 μm), a ΔE-E telescope has been constructed. The telescope provides information about position, energy, time and type of registered particles. The emission probabilities and the energy distributions of ternary particles (He, Li, Be) from 252Cf spontaneous fission source were determined using this telescope. Besides the ternary particles, a few events were collected, which were attributed to the “pseudo” quaternary fission.

A multiple parallel-plate avalanche counter for fission-fragment detection

A new low-mass multiple gas-filled parallel-plate avalanche counter for the fission-fragment detection has been developed to mark the fission occurrence in measurements of the prompt fission neutron energy spectrum as a function of incident neutron energy. It was used successfully for the neutron-induced fission of 235U and 239Pu with a total mass near 100mg each and the spontaneous fission of 252Cf. Both the incident neutron energy and the prompt fission neutron energy are measured by using the time-of-flight method. The design and performance of this avalanche counter are described.

First use of single-crystal diamonds as fission-fragment detector

Single-crystal chemical vapor-deposited diamond (sCVD) was investigated for its ability to act as fission-fragment detector. In particular we investigated timing and energy resolution for application in a simultaneous time-of-flight and energy measurement to determine the mass of the detected fission fragment. Previous tests have shown that poly-crystalline chemical vapor deposited (pCVD) diamonds provide sufficient timing resolution, but their poor energy resolution did not allow complete separation between very low-energy fission fragments, α-particles and noise. Our present investigations prove artificial sCVD diamonds to show similar timing resolution as pCVD diamonds close to 100ps. Improved pulse-height resolution allows the unequivocal separation of fission fragments, and the detection efficiency reaches 100%, but remains with about a few percent behind requirements for fragment-mass identification. With high-speed digital electronics a timing resolution well below 100ps is possible. However, the strongly varying quality of the presently available diamond material does not allow application on a sufficiently large scale within reasonable investments.

Cross Section Measurements at LANSCE for Defense, Science and Applications

The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) has three neutron sources that are used for nuclear science measurements. These sources are driven by an 800 MeV proton linear accelerator and cover an energy range from sub-thermal to hundreds of MeV. Research at the facilities is performed under the auspices of a US DOE user program under which research proposals are rated for merit by a program advisory committee and are scheduled based on merit and availability of beam time. A wide variety of instruments is operated at the neutron flight paths at LANSCE including neutron detector arrays, gamma-ray detector arrays, fission fragment detectors, and charged particle detectors. These instruments provide nuclear data for multiple uses that range from increasing knowledge in fundamental science to satisfying data needs for diverse applications such as nuclear energy, global security, and industrial applications. Highlights of recent research related to cross sections measurements are presented, and future research initiatives are discussed.

Prompt neutron multiplicity in correlation with fragments from spontaneous fission ofCf252

The spontaneous fission of $^{252}\mathrm{Cf}$ serves as an excellent benchmark of prompt emission in fission since experimental data can be obtained without the need of an incident beam. With the purpose of providing experimental data on the prompt fission neutron properties in correlation with fission-fragment characteristics, an experiment on $^{252}\mathrm{Cf}$(SF) has been performed. In addition, the experiment serves as a benchmark of setup and analysis procedures for measurements of fluctuations in the prompt-neutron properties as a function of incident neutron energy in fission of the major actinides $^{235}\mathrm{U}$ and $^{239}\mathrm{Pu}$. The experiment employs a twin Frisch grid ionization chamber as fission-fragment detector while neutrons were counted by using a liquid scintillator placed along the symmetry axis of the ionization chamber. Average neutron multiplicity has been obtained as a function of fission-fragment mass and total kinetic energy (TKE). The average multiplicity as a function of mass agrees well with available data in the literature in the mass range from 80 to 170 u. The existence of additional sawtooth structures in the far asymmetric mass region could not be confirmed, although the statistical accuracy of the present experiment is as good as the previous study where such structures have been reported [Nucl. Phys. A 490, 307 (1988).]. The available data in the literature on the TKE dependence of the multiplicity show strong deviations. Therefore, effort was focused on investigating experimental factors in low-efficiency neutron-counting experiments that may lead to faulty determination of this dependence. Taking these factors into account, a result that agrees well with data from high-efficiency neutron-counting experiments is obtained. The experimental arrangement allows determination of the angle between the detected neutron and the fission axis, which permits the neutron properties to be transformed into the fission-fragment rest frame. Fission neutron emission spectra in the fragment center-of-mass frame have thereby been obtained as a function of the fission-fragment mass and TKE.

Total prompt γ -ray emission in fission of U235 , Pu239,241 , and Cf252

The total prompt $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray energy distributions for the neutron-induced fission of $^{235}\mathrm{U}$ and $^{239,241}\mathrm{Pu}$ in the neutron energy range of 0.025 eV -- 100 keV and the spontaneous fission of $^{252}\mathrm{Cf}$ were measured using the Detector for Advanced Neutron Capture Experiments (DANCE) in coincidence with the detection of fission fragments by a parallel-plate avalanche counter. DANCE is a highly segmented, highly efficient 4$\ensuremath{\pi}$ $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray calorimeter. Corrections were made to the measured distribution by unfolding the two-dimension spectrum of total $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray energy vs multiplicity using a simulated DANCE response matrix generated with a geometrical model of the detector arrays and validated with the $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray calibration sources. The mean values of the total prompt $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray energy, determined from the unfolded distributions, are $\ensuremath{\sim}$20% higher than those of early measurements for all the fissile nuclei studied. The implication for the $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ heating in nuclear reactors is discussed.

Position reconstruction in fission fragment detection using the low pressure MWPC technique for the JLab experiment E02-017

When a Λ hyperon is embedded in a nucleus it can form a hypernucleus. The lifetime and its mass dependence of stable hypernuclei provide information about the ΛN interaction in the nuclear medium. This work will introduce the Jefferson Lab experiment (E02-017), which aims to study the lifetime of the heavy hypernuclei using a specially developed fission fragment detection technique: a multi-wire proportional chamber operating under low gas pressure (LPMWPC). The trajectory of the detected fragment is reconstructed and used to find the fission point on the target foil, the position resolution is less than 1 mm, which meets the original design, the separation of target materials and events mixture percentage in different regions are verified by Monte Carlo simulation.

Measuring Light-ion Production and Fission Cross Sections Normalised to H(n,p) Scattering at the Upcoming NFS Facility

The Medley detector setup is planned to be moved to and used at the new neutron facility NFS where measurements of light-ion production and fission cross-sections are planned at 1-40 MeV. Medley has eight detector telescopes providing ΔE-ΔE-E data, each consisting of two silicon detectors and a CsI(Tl) detector at the back. The telescope setup can be rotated and arranged to cover any angle. Medley has previously been used in many measurements at The Svedberg Laboratory (TSL) in Uppsala mainly with a quasi-mono-energetic neutron beam at 96 and 175 MeV. To be able to do measurements at NFS, which will have a white neutron beam, Medley needs to detect the reaction products with a high timing resolution providing the ToF of the primary neutron. In this paper we discuss the design of the Medley upgrade along with simulations of the setup. We explore the use of Parallel Plate Avalanche Counters (PPACs) which work very well for detecting fission fragments but require more consideration for detecting deeply penetrating particles.

Experimental Neutron-induced Fission Fragment Mass Yields of 232Th and 238U at Energies from 10 to 33 Me

Development of nuclear energy applications requires data for neutron-induced reactions for actinides in a wide neutron energy range. Here we describe measurements of pre-neutron emission fission fragment mass yields of 232Th and 238U at incident neutron energies from 10 to 33 MeV. The measurements were done at the quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam of the Louvain-la-Neuve cyclotron facility CYCLONE; a multi-section twin Frisch-gridded ionization chamber was used to detect fission fragments. For the peak neutron energies at 33, 45 and 60 MeV, the details of the data analysis and the experimental results were published in Ref. [I.V. Ryzhov, S.G. Yavshits, G.A. Tutin et al., Phys. Rev. C 83, 054603 (2011)]. In this work we present data analysis in the low-energy tail of the neutron energy spectra. The preliminary measurement results are compared with available experimental data and theoretical predictions.

Neutron-induced fission cross section ofU234measured at the CERN n_TOF facility

The neutron-induced fission cross section of U234 has been measured at the CERN n_TOF facility relative to the standard fission cross section of U235 from 20 keV to 1.4 MeV and of U238 from 1.4 to 200 MeV. A fast ionization chamber (FIC) was used as a fission fragment detector with a detection efficiency of no less than 97%. The high instantaneous flux and the low background characterizing the n_TOF facility resulted in wide-energy-range data (0.02 to 200 MeV), with high energy resolution, high statistics, and systematic uncertainties bellow 3%. Previous investigations around the energy of the fission threshold revealed structures attributed to β-vibrational levels, which have been confirmed by the present measurements. Theoretical calculations have been performed, employing the talys code with model parameters tuned to fairly reproduce the experimental data.5 MoreReceived 21 December 2013DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.89.044606©2014 American Physical Society

A Multi-detector NaI(Tl) Gamma-ray Spectrometry System for Investigation of Neutron Induced Capture and Fission Reactions

At the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics (FLNP), a new multi-detector gamma-ray spectrometry system (MDGRSS) was constructed. It consists of 24 hexagonal NaI(Tl) detectors, arranged in two cylindrical arrays of variable diameter and distance between them. Test measurements with the MDGRSS are going on at one of the neutron beam-lines of the pulsed white-spectrum neutron source IREN. Some preliminary results from a measurement of the resonance-neutron flux density at IREN 60m flight-path station, using 181Ta(n,γ) reaction, are reported. In combination with a multi-section parallel-plate gas-ionization chamber as a fission fragment detector, positioned in the centre of the system, it is possible to investigate the neutron-induced capture and fission reactions on a number of heavy isotopes, important for fundamental and applied neutron and nuclear physics.

High-spin structures of 124−131Te: Competition of proton- and neutron-pair breakings

The 124-131Te nuclei have been produced as fission fragments in two fusion reactions induced by heavy-ions (12C + 238U at 90 MeV bombarding energy and 18O + 208Pb at 85 MeV) and studied with the Euroball array. Their high-spin level schemes have been extended to higher excitation energy from the triple gamma-ray coincidence data. The gamma-gamma angular correlations have been analyzed in order to assign spin and parity values to many observed states. Moreover the half-lives of isomeric states have been measured from the delayed coincidences between the fission-fragment detector SAPhIR and Euroball, as well as from the timing information of the Ge detectors. The behaviors of the yrast structures identified in the present work are first discussed in comparison with the general features known in the mass region, particularly the breakings of neutron pairs occupying the nuh11/2 orbit identified in the neighboring Sn nuclei. The experimental level schemes are then compared to shell-model calculations performed in this work. The analysis of the wave functions shows the effects of the proton-pair breaking along the yrast lines of the heavy Te isotopes.

A new fission-fragment detector to complement the CACTUS-SiRi setup at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory

An array of Parallel Plate Avalanche Counters (PPAC) for the detection of heavy ions has been developed. The new device, NIFF (Nuclear Instrument for Fission Fragments), consists of four individual detectors and covers 60% of 2π. It was designed to be used in conjunction with the SiRi array of ΔE−E silicon telescopes for light charged particles and fits into the CACTUS array of 28 large-volume NaI scintillation detectors at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory. The low-pressure gas-filled PPACs are sensitive for the detection of fission fragments, but are insensitive to scattered beam particles of light ions or light-ion ejectiles. The PPAC detectors of NIFF have good time resolution and can be used either to select or to veto fission events in in-beam experiments with light-ion beams and actinide targets. The powerful combination of SiRi, CACTUS, and NIFF provides new research opportunities for the study of nuclear structure and nuclear reactions in the actinide region. The new setup is particularly well suited to study the competition of fission and γ decay as a function of excitation energy.

Photofission of 238U in the giant-resonance region

Data on cross sections for the reaction 238U(γ,F) in the giant-resonance region were analyzed in connection with the preparation of new experiments aimed at studying 238U photofission—in particular, in beams of photons from in-flight positron annihilation on internal targets of positron storage rings. These data were taken from measurements also performed with annihilation photons but from positron beams external to the accelerators used. The procedures applied in such measurements and based both on processing the multiplicity of detected neutrons and on detecting fission fragments were also analyzed.

A Bi-Dimensional Multi-Wire Cathode Strip Detector for Fission Fragments

A large area bi-dimensional position sensitive multi-wire cathode strip detector (MCSD) has been developed for the detection of fission fragments (FFs). The performance of the detector has been characterized with FFs from <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">252</sup> Cf and α particles from <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">241</sup> Am- <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">239</sup> Pu sources. The position information is obtained from the measurement of time delay signals of the cathode strips (X-direction) and split-cathode wires (Y-direction) with respect to the timing signal from the anode wires. The position resolution is found to be about 1.0 and 1.5 mm in X-and Y-directions respectively.

High-seniority states in spherical nuclei: Triple pair breaking in tin isotopes

The 119-126Sn nuclei have been produced as fission fragments in two reactions induced by heavy ions: 12C+238U at 90 MeV bombarding energy, 18O+208Pb at 85 MeV. Their level schemes have been built from gamma rays detected using the Euroball array. High-spin states located above the long-lived isomeric states of the even- A and odd-A 120-126Sn nuclei have been identified. Moreover isomeric states lying around 4.5 MeV have been established in the even-A 120-126Sn from the delayed coincidences between the fission fragment detector SAPhIR and the Euroball array. All the states located above 3-MeV excitation energy are ascribed to several broken pairs of neutrons occupying the h11/2 orbit. The maximum value of angular momentum available in such a high-j shell, i.e. for mid-occupation and the breaking of the three neutron pairs (seniority v=6), has been identified.

Systematics of promptγ-ray emission in fission

The prompt $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray energy and multiplicity distributions were measured for the neutron-induced fission in ${}^{235}\mathrm{U}$ and ${}^{239,241}\mathrm{Pu}$ by using a highly segmented $4\ensuremath{\pi}\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray calorimeter in coincidence with the detection of fission fragments by a gas-filled parallel-plate avalanche counter. Both distributions were unfolded according to the detector response, which was simulated numerically by using a model validated with the $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray calibration sources. The mean value and the width of the $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray multiplicity distribution show a systematic increase with increasing mass of fissile nucleus, whereas, the energy distribution shows the dependence of $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray energy above 5 MeV on the species of fissile nuclei. The correlations between $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray energy and multiplicity were studied by comparing the mean value and the width of the total $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray energy between measurement and simulation by using an assembly with elements selected by random sampling of their unfolded distributions. The detector response was taken into account in the simulation. These results together with the detailed description of the experiment and analysis are presented.

Towards high accurate neutron-induced fission cross sections of240,242Pu: Spontaneous fission half-lives

Fast spectrum neutron-induced fission cross sections of transuranic isotopes are being of special demand in order to provide accurate data for the new GEN-IV nuclear power plants. To minimize the uncertainties on these measurements accurate data on spontaneous fission half-lives and detector efficiencies are a key point. High -active actinides need special attention since the misinterpretation of detector signals can lead to low efficiency values or underestimation in fission fragment detection. In that context, 240,242 Pu isotopes have been studied by means of a Twin Frisch-Grid Ionization Chamber (TFGIC) for measurements of their neutron-induced fission cross section. Gases with different drift velocities have been used, namely P10 and CH4. The detector efficiencies for both samples have been determined and improved spontaneous fission half-life values were obtained.