Direct Determination of Fission-Barrier Heights Using Light-Ion Transfer in Inverse Kinematics

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Direct Determination of Fission-Barrier Heights Using Light-Ion Transfer in Inverse Kinematics

S. A. Bennett, K. Garrett, D. K. Sharp, S. J. Freeman, A. G. Smith, T. J. Wright, B. P. Kay, T. L. Tang, I. A. Tolstukhin, Y. Ayyad, J. Chen, P. J. Davies, A. Dolan, L. P. Gaffney, A. Heinz, C. R. Hoffman, C. Müller-Gatermann, R. D. Page, and G. L. Wilson

Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 202501 – Published 19 May 2023

Abstract

We demonstrate a new technique for obtaining fission data for nuclei away from $β$ stability. These types of data are pertinent to the astrophysical $r$ process, crucial to a complete understanding of the origin of the heavy elements, and for developing a predictive model of fission. These data are also important considerations for terrestrial applications related to power generation and safeguarding. Experimentally, such data are scarce due to the difficulties in producing the actinide targets of interest. The solenoidal-spectrometer technique, commonly used to study nucleon-transfer reactions in inverse kinematics, has been applied to the case of transfer-induced fission as a means to deduce the fission-barrier height, among other variables. The fission-barrier height of ${}^{239}U$ has been determined via the ${}^{238}U (d, p f)$ reaction in inverse kinematics, the results of which are consistent with existing neutron-induced fission data indicating the validity of the technique.

Received 17 November 2022
Revised 28 February 2023
Accepted 27 March 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.202501

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Direct reactions Fission Nuclear reactions Transfer reactions

A ≥ 220

Spectrometers & spectroscopic techniques

Nuclear Physics

Authors & Affiliations

S. A. Bennett¹, K. Garrett ¹, D. K. Sharp ^1,*, S. J. Freeman ^1,2, A. G. Smith ¹, T. J. Wright ¹, B. P. Kay ³, T. L. Tang ^3,†, I. A. Tolstukhin ³, Y. Ayyad ⁴, J. Chen³, P. J. Davies ⁵, A. Dolan⁶, L. P. Gaffney ⁶, A. Heinz ⁷, C. R. Hoffman ³, C. Müller-Gatermann ³, R. D. Page⁶, and G. L. Wilson ^8,3

¹Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
²CERN, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
³Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
⁴IGFAE, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, E-15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
⁵School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
⁶Oliver Lodge Laboratory, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE, United Kingdom
⁷Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Göteborg, Sweden
⁸Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA

^*To whom all correspondence (inquiry) should be addressed. david.sharp@manchester.ac.uk
^†Present address: Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA.

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Issue

Vol. 130, Iss. 20 — 19 May 2023

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