Speaker
Description
Nuclear fission plays a role in many applications such as reactor technology and national security as well as several areas of fundamental nuclear physics. Despite its importance, the complexity of the fission process has precluded a comprehensive theoretical description of this process. To better constrain models of fission, there is a need for experimental data on the properties of fission fragments, prompt neutrons, and prompt γ rays, as well as correlations between these particles. To meet this need, we have begun correlation measurements of observables in photon and neutron-induced fission. An alternative approach uses heavy-ion beams to induce fission with virtual photons and/or particle transfer. Experiments in inverse kinematics provide access to exotic systems and a wealth of high-precision data. Our measurements will serve as a benchmark for these new techniques.
We will discuss recent measurements of the photofission of $^{238}$U performed at the High Intensity Gamma-ray Source at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory. Fission fragments were detected with a position-sensitive twin Frisch-grid ionization chamber, capable of measuring the kinetic energies, masses, and emission angles of the fission fragments. An array of neutron and 𝛾-ray detectors were used to measure prompt particles from fission in coincidence with the fission fragments. Details of the experimental setup, data analysis, and preliminary results will be presented.
This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. Part of this work was supported by the U.S. DOE National Nuclear Security Administration under Grant No. DE-NA0004069-01
