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The evolution of the Er3+:YAG thermal radiation spectra at heating up to the melting point was investigated in the visible range when growing a crystal fiber by the Laser-Heated Pedestal Growth (LHPG) method. The Er3+:YAG melt of about 1 mm thickness radiates like a black body in several spectral bands sometimes different from the crystal absorption lines. The real melt temperature in the middle of the growth zone was estimated as 2620 ± 15 K. The spectral profile of Er3+:YAG emissivity in the visible range for a melt layer of about L ≈ 1 mm at 2620 K is shown in the Figure.

The refractive index (RI) of a sapphire crystal melt was determined at high temperatures (exceeding 2350 K) in the visible spectral range. Data were obtained from the analysis results of the state of polarization of the intrinsic thermal radiation of the melt during the laser-heated pedestal growth process. The derived sapphire melt RI is n = 1.72 ± 0.02 for λ = 550 nm, and the linear part of the dispersion in the range 400–750 nm is characterized by the coefficient dn/dλ = −(1.93 ± 0.01) × 10–4 nm − 1.

Temperature distribution along a single crystal fiber molten zone in the laser heated pedestal growth (LHPG) process of pure sapphire (Al 2 O 3 ) and yttrium–aluminum garnet (Y 3 Al 5 O 12 ) fiber was measured for the first time. The temperature was determined from thermal radiation spectra measurements in the visible spectral range. Our measurements indicate the existence of local temperature minimum in the region of source rod melting.

A new method for measuring the refractive index of crystals and melts at high temperatures is presented. The refractive index of an Er3+:YAG crystal melt is determined during the laser-heated pedestal growth process close to the melting point. The main idea is to use the maximal difference in the intensities of two polarizations of thermal radiation passing the melt-air interface. From the Fresnel equations, it follows that this difference is almost proportional to the refractive index. Angular diagrams of the thermal radiation of the melt for two polarizations are analyzed. The obtained value of the refractive index of the Er3+:YAG melt is n = 1.84 ± 0.01 in the wavelength range of 550–620 nm.A new method for measuring the refractive index of crystals and melts at high temperatures is presented. The refractive index of an Er3+:YAG crystal melt is determined during the laser-heated pedestal growth process close to the melting point. The main idea is to use the maximal difference in the intensities of two polarizations of thermal radiation passing the melt-air interface. From the Fresnel equations, it follows that this difference is almost proportional to the refractive index. Angular diagrams of the thermal radiation of the melt for two polarizations are analyzed. The obtained value of the refractive index of the Er3+:YAG melt is n = 1.84 ± 0.01 in the wavelength range of 550–620 nm.

A setup is developed for measuring optical characteristics of opaque and translucent solids in the temperature range of 25 to 1600°C and spectral range of 0.65 to 10.6 µm. Procedures of calibration experiments and measurements of spectral and integral emissivity are described. These procedures allow spectral and integral emissivity and spectral and integral reflectances of various materials, including translucent ones, to be measured accurate to about 10% in the spectral range of 0.65 to 10,6 µm and temperature range of 25 to 1600°C. Optical characteristics of materials are measured at the atmospheric pressure in the normal oxygen atmosphere or in the atmosphere with reduced oxygen content (inert gas or carbon dioxide blowing on the frontal surface of the samples). The accuracy of the thus obtained data on temperature and spectrum dependences of optical characteristics of materials allow measurements to be performed for developing various structures capable of operating at high temperatures.

We demonstrate the employment of single-crystal optical fibres based on lithium niobate for doubling the laser radiation frequency. The measured characteristics of the fibre confirm its high quality and spatial homogeneity. Parameters of the frequency doublers for neodymium laser radiation (λ = 1 mm) based on fibre and bulk single crystals are compared. Single crystals are grown by the method of laser-heated pedestal growing with heating by radiation of a CO{sub 2} laser (LHPG-method). (nonlinear optical phenomena)

Single-crystal Ln2O3 (Ln = Sm, Eu, Gd) fibers are grown by the laser-heated miniature pedestal technique. The relationship between the microstructure of fibers and their plasticity is analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive microanalysis, electron backscatter diffraction, and X-ray methods. It is shown that the distinction between ductile and brittle fibers is determined basically by the difference in their microstructure. The fracture of samarium oxide fibers is associated with the formation of oxycarbonate phases on their surface. The most promising are the fibers of gadolinium oxide, having the most perfect microstructure, moisture and a carbon dioxide resistance, and a wide range of transparency.

Mass and energy distributions of fragments from fission of target nuclei 232Th and 235U induced by the 10.3–30.0 MeV protons have been measured with surface-barrier silicon detectors. A new method for decomposition of experimental distributions into fragment mass and energy yields of four independent fission modes has been proposed. Main characteristics of fission modes such as distinct mode mass yields, mean masses and kinetic energies as well as variances in fragment masses and energies have been studied in relation with energy of protons. Revealed regularities in these quantities for given energy range of incident protons support the assumption that the modes S1 and S2 are initially formed in a unified asymmetric fission valley.

One of the interesting problems in the nuclear fission studies is the nature of the asymmetry of the fission fragment mass distribution (FFMD). In connection with recent experiments, the valleys on the potential energy surface of 226Th have been considered. The pre-scission nuclear shape calculated as a result of the minimization in multi-dimensional space of the deformation parameters with two constrains is shown to be of the type considered by Brosa et al.

The mass-energy distributions of fragments originating from the fission of the compound nucleus 226Th and their correlations with the multiplicity of gamma rays emitted from these fragments are measured and analyzed in 18O + 208Pb interaction induced by projectile oxygen ions of energy in the range E lab = 78–198.5 MeV. Manifestations of an asymmetric fission mode, which is damped exponentially with increasing E lab, are demonstrated. Theoretical calculations of fission valleys reveal that only two independent valleys, symmetric and asymmetric, exist in the vicinity of the scission point. The dependence of the multiplicity of gamma rays emitted from both fission fragments on their mass, Mγ(M), has a complicated structure and is highly sensitive to shell effects in both primary and final fragments. A two-component analysis of the dependence Mγ(M) shows that the asymmetric mode survives in fission only at low partial-wave orbital angular momenta of compound nuclei. It is found that, for all E lab, the gamma-ray multiplicity Mγ as a function of the total kinetic energy (TKE) of fragments, Mγ(TKE), decreases linearly with increasing TKE. An analysis of the energy balance in the fission process at the laboratory energy of E lab = 78 MeV revealed the region of cold fission of fragments whose total kinetic energy is TKE ∼Q max.

Mass-energy distributions (MEDs) and capture-fission cross sections have been measured in the reaction 48 Ca + 208 Pb → 256 No at the energies E lab = 206 – 242 MeV using a double-arm time-of-flight spectrometer CORSET. It has been observed that MED of the fragments consists of two parts, namely, the classical fusion–fission process corresponding to the symmetric fission of 256 No and quasi-fission “shoulders” corresponding to the light fragment masses ∼ 60 – 90 u and complimentary heavy fragment masses. The quasi-fission “shoulders” have a higher total kinetic energy (TKE) as compared with that expected for the classical fission. A mathematical formalism was employed for the MEDs fragment decomposition into fusion–fission and quasi-fission components. In the fusion–fission process a high-energy Super-Short mode has been discovered for the masses M H = 130 – 135 u and the TKE of ≈ 233 MeV .

New systematics have been developed for calculating the mass yields from the fission of actinide nuclei between Th and Bk, induced by protons and neutrons with kinetic energies in the range 5–200 MeV. The systematics reproduce the experimental data accurately and are applicable as a basis for calculating independent fission fragment yields when the minor actinide transmutation in Accelerator–Driven Systems and other practical applications are of interest.

The average multiplicity of gamma rays emitted by fragments originating from the fission of 226Th nuclei formed via a complete fusion of 18O and 208Pb nuclei at laboratory energies of 18O projectile ions in the range E lab = 78–198.5 MeV is measured and analyzed. The total spins of fission fragments are found and used in an empirical analysis of the energy dependence of the anisotropy of these fragments under the assumption that their angular distributions are formed in the vicinity of the scission point. The average temperature of compound nuclei at the scission point and their average angular momenta in the entrance channel are found for this analysis. Also, the moments of inertia are calculated for this purpose for the chain of fissile thorium nuclei at the scission point. All of these parameters are determined at the scission point by means of three-dimensional dynamical calculations based on Langevin equations. A strong alignment of fragment spins is assumed in analyzing the anisotropy in question. In that case, the energy dependence of the anisotropy of fission fragments is faithfully reproduced at energies in excess of the Coulomb barrier (E c.m. − E B ≥ 30 MeV). It is assumed that, as the excitation energy and the angular momentum of a fissile nucleus are increased, the region where the angular distributions of fragments are formed is gradually shifted from the region of nuclear deformations in the vicinity of the saddle point to the region of nuclear deformations in the vicinity of the scission point, the total angular momentum of the nucleus undergoing fission being split into the orbital component, which is responsible for the anisotropy of fragments, and the spin component. This conclusion can be qualitatively explained on the basis of linear-response theory.

Correlations between folding angular distributions of fission fragments and the gamma-ray multiplicity are studied for 18O + 208Pb interactions at energies of the beam of 18O ions in the range E lab = 78–198.5 MeV. The probabilities are determined for complete-and incomplete-fusion processes inevitably followed by the fission of nuclei formed in these processes. It is found that the probability of incomplete fusion followed by fission increases with increasing energy of bombarding ions. It is shown that, for the incomplete-fusion process, folding angular distributions of fission fragments have a two-component structure. The width of folding angular distributions (FWHM) for complete fusion grows linearly with increasing energy of 18O ions. The multiplicity of gamma rays from fission fragments as a function of the linear-momentum transfer behaves differently for different energies of projectile ions. This circumstance is explained here by the distinction between the average angular momenta of participant nuclei in the fusion and fission channels, which is due to the difference in the probabilities of fission in the cases where different numbers of nucleons are captured by the target nucleus.

Fission fragment mass and energy distributions (MED) and fission fragment folding angle distributions (FFFAD) have been measured in the reaction 6Li + 232Th within the lithium projectile energy range E lab = 28.5 – 62.5 MeV . The values of the ratio between the complete and incomplete fusion cross-sections have been obtained from a combined analysis of MED and FFFAD. The incomplete fusion originates from transfer reactions and/or from the 6Li breakup mainly into α and d clusters. It has been found that the contribution of complete fusion into the total fusion–fission cross-section is only ∼ 27 % at the lithium projectile energy E lab = 28.5 MeV ( ∼ 2 MeV below the Coulomb barrier).

The efficient technology is developed for growing high-quality doped single-crystal fibres by the mini-pedestal method with laser heating. The technology can be used to fabricate high-quality doped single-crystal fibres with a controllable radial gradient of the refractive index. The refractive-index profile in single-crystal fibres is studied experimentally. The efficient operation of a Nd3+ : YAG single-crystal fibre laser in the waveguide regime was demonstrated upon longitudinal pumping by a laser diode.

We have studied mass-energy distributions (MED) of fission fragments using two projectile-target combinations, 12C + 204Pb and 48Ca + 168Er, leading to the same compound nucleus 216Ra at the excitation energy E*∼40 MeV. It has been found that the contribution of the asymmetric mode in the case of the former reaction is 1.5%, and it is 30% in the case of the latter one. We connect such a sharp increase in the yield of asymmetric products in the 48Ca + 168Er reaction with the quasifission process, the MED of which have a clearly expressed shell structure. The characteristics of the fission fragment MED are of such a kind that they can be interpreted by analogy with the low-energy fission of heavy nuclei as a manifestation of an independent mode of nuclear decay which competes with the classical fusion-fission process.

IR (10.6 μm) laser irradiation of silica glass preforms ensures rapid evaporation of the surface layer. The resulting deposit consists of amorphous SiO2 with a particle size of ∼ 70 nm.

For the first time the cross section and angular distributions of fission fragments have been measured for the compound nucleus 220 Ra produced in the reaction 12 C+ 208 Pb at three energy values in the range from 0.5 to 8.0 r MeV below the fusion barrier calculated in terms of the Bass model. In the investigated energy range there is a plateau characterized by the relation W (180°)/ W (90°)=1.2 in the angular anisotropy of fission fragments.

M. G. Itkis,∗ ,a A. A. Bogatchev,a I. M. Itkis,a M. Jandel,a J. Kliman,a G. N. Kniajeva,a N. A. Kondratiev,a I. V. Korzyukov,a E. M. Kozulin,a L. Krupa,a Yu. Ts. Oganessian,a I. V. Pokrovski,a V. A. Ponomarenko,a E. V. Prokhorova,a A. Ya. Rusanov,a V. M. Voskresenski,a A. A. Goverdovski,b F. Hanappe,c T. Materna,c N. Rowley,d L. Stuttge,d G. Giardina,e and K. J. Moodyf Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Research, JINR, 141980 Dubna, Russia Institute for Physics & Power Engineering, 249020 Obninsk, Russia Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium Institut de Recherches Subatomiques, F-67037 Strasbourg Cedex, France Dipartimento di Fisica dell’ Universita di Messina, 98166 Messina, Italy University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA

The talk presents the results of an investigation of the main characteristics (mass and energy distributions of fission fragments and multiplicity of neutrons) of the fission of the nuclei of 220 Ra, 226 Th, 256 No, 270 Sg, 286 112 produced in reactions with ions of 18 O, 22 Ne and 48 Ca at energies close to and essentially below the Coulomb barrier. The data obtained show that the form of the mass and energy distributions of the fission fragments of 226 Th and 270 Sg is accounted for by the multimodal nature of the fission. In addition, for 226 Th, a new phenomenon was established there is a significant difference between the numbers of prescission neutrons for symmetric and asymmetric fission modes. It was found that, for the low-energy fission of the nucleus of 286 112, the mass distribution of the fragments is of a clear-cut asymmetric form, contrary to what is observed for the spotaneous fission of the nuclei with Z = 100–104 and for the induced fission of 270 Sg.

Two principles of producing quartz light guides with an elliptical section using the radiation of CO2 laser are described. The possibility of deformation of quartz preforms in the course of drawing quartz light guides is demonstrated. The process of manufacture of two types of elliptical quartz light guides is analyzed.

A thorough spectroscopic examination of the co-doped Yb:Ho:YSGG system was performed with the goal of achieving cw laser action on the 3 μm Ho 5I6→5I7 transition. Yb has very good pump absorption properties, and a highly efficient process transfers the excitation to the Ho upper laser level, which has a lifetime of ~400 μsec. The lower laser level lifetime can be reduced from 9msec to 1.5 msec by the addition of 2% Eu as a deactivator without adversely affecting the upper laser level population. An undesirable upconversion process was discovered, though its effect can be minimised using high Yb and Ho concentrations, as these make the energy transfer rate so fast that it dominates the upconversion rate. The ideal composition derived from our studies is 50% Yb:8% Ho:2% Eu, and laser operation at duty cycles in excess of 0.25 appears possible.

Mass and energy distributions of binary reaction products obtained in the reactions {sup 22}Ne+{sup 249}Cf,{sup 26}Mg+{sup 248}Cm, {sup 36}S+{sup 238}U, and {sup 58}Fe+{sup 208}Pb have been measured. All reactions lead to Hs isotopes. At energies below the Coulomb barrier the bimodal fission of Hs{sup *}, formed in the reaction {sup 26}Mg+{sup 248}Cm, is observed. In the reaction {sup 36}S+{sup 238}U, leading to the formation of a similar compound nucleus, the main part of the symmetric fragments arises from the quasifission process. At energies above the Coulomb barrier fusion-fission is the main process leading to the formation of symmetric fragments for both reactions with Mg and S ions. In the case of the {sup 58}Fe+{sup 208}Pb reaction the quasifission process dominates at all measured energies.

Single crystal fibres on a basis rare-earth oxides are promising materials for technical application, in particular for radiation delivery in a near and mid-IR range. In the fibres shape Eu3+:Y 2 O 3 [1], Ln3+:Gd 2 O 3 (Ln=Nd, Eu, Er) [2,3] single crystals have been received earlier and their luminescent properties have been studied. The goal of our study consisted in the interrelation analysis between a microstructure of fibres and their such property as the plasticity expressed in their ability to be easily bent. Another goal was the study of nonlinear properties consisted in the possibility to produce super continuum generation during the transmission of the ultrashort light pulses. Fibres Ln 2 O 3 (Ln=Sm, Eu, Gd) have been grown up by a method of “a laser minipedestal” on ZrO 2 crystal seed. Among the grown up fibres there were both fragile, and flexible plastic. According to X-ray crystal phase analysis in all of them Ln 2 O 3 are crystallized in monoclinic system and do not contain additional cubic crystal phase stable at low temperatures (a limit of detection of about 1 %). A series X-ray diffraction patterns obtained with initial, bent and straightened fibres shows, that at deformation the reflexes on Laue pattern are diffused, but there is practically full restoration of clearness of reflexes at restoration of the initial shape of a fibre. The morphology of the samples surface was studied, the chemical composition is determined by the X-ray microanalysis, orientation of crystals is established by a method of diffraction of back scattered electrons (EBSD). On the fibres surface the rings are observed and they are allocated with distances between them of about 0,3–2 µm (Fig. 1)

The interest in the study of the fission process of superheavy nuclei mainly deals with the opportunity to obtain information about the cross-section of the compound nucleus (CN) formation at excitation energies E*\approx 15–30 MeV. It allows one to estimate the survival probability of the superheavy composite system after evaporation of 1–3 neutrons, i.e. in "cold" or "warm" fusion reactions. However, in order to solve this problem deeper understanding of the coalescence processes between colliding nuclei, the competition between fusion-fission and quasi-fission processes is needed. The characteristics of both processes, their manifestation in the experimental observables and the relative contribution to the capture cross-section in dependence on the excitation energies, reaction entrance channel etc were investigated for a wide range of target-projectile combinations. Results of the experiments devoted to the study of the fusion-fission and quasi-fission processes in the reactions of the formation of the superheavy nuclei with Z = 102–122 are presented. The heavy ions 26Mg, 48Ca, 50Ti, 58Fe and 64Ni were used as projectiles. The choice of the reactions with 48Ca and actinide-targets was inspired by the experiments on the production of the isotopes 283112, 289114 and 283116 in Dubna using the same reactions. The 50Ti, 58Fe and 64Ni projectiles were chosen since the corresponding projectile-target combinations lead to the synthesis of even heavier elements. The experiments were carried out at the U-400 accelerator of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR, Russia) and the XTU Tandem accelerator of the National Laboratory of Legnaro (LNL, Italy) using the time-of-flight spectrometer of fission fragments CORSET. The role of the shell effects, the influence of the entrance channel asymmetry and the deformations of colliding nuclei on the mechanism of the fusion-fission and the competitive process of quasi-fission are discussed. The recent results on synthesis of superheavy nuclei and the perspectives of the "hot" fusion reaction for the production of superheavy nuclei are considered.

The mass-energy distributions of the fragments, fusion-fission (OFF) and capture (oCap) cross-sections in the reactions 26Mg+248Cm; 48Ca+2"RPb, 232Th, 238U , 2 4 4 ~ u , 2 4 8 ~ m ; 244Pu, 248Cm were measured at the U400 accelerator of Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR, Russia) with use of double-ann time-of-flight spectrometer CORSET. The influence of reaction entrance channel on the competition between fusion-fission and quasi-fission processes was studied. Strong manifestation of the shell effects in mass distributions of fusion-fission and quasi-fission fragments was observed. The multimodal fission phenomena were found for 2 7 4 H ~ and 256N0 nuclei at low excitation energies. % ~ ~ 2 0 8 p b , 232~h

Results of the experiments aimed at the study of fission and quasi‐fission processes in the reactions 12C+204Pb, 48Ca+144,154Sm, 168Er, 208Pb, 238U, 244Pu, 248Cm; 58Fe+208Pb, 244Pu, 248Cm, and 64Ni+186W, 242Pu are presented. The choice of the above‐mentioned reactions was inspired by the experiments on the production of the isotopes 283112, 289114 and 283116 at Dubna using the same reactions. The 58Fe and 64Ni projectiles were chosen since the corresponding projectile‐target combinations lead to the synthesis of even heavier elements. The experiments were carried out at the U‐400 accelerator of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR, Russia), the XTU Tandem accelerator of the National Laboratory of Legnaro (LNL, Italy) and the Accelerator of the Laboratory of University of Jyvaskyla (JYFL, Finland) using the time‐of‐flight spectrometer of fission fragments CORSET and the neutron multi‐detector DEMON. The role of shell effects and the influence of the entrance channel asymmetry and the deformatio...

The process of fusion-fission of heavy and superheavy nuclei (SHE) with Z = 82-122 formed in the reactions with ^48Ca and ^58Fe ions at energies near and below the Coulomb barrier has been studied. The experiments were carried out at the ^400U accelerator of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR) and at the XTU Tandem accelerator of the National Laboratory of Legnaro, (LNL) using the time-of-flight spectrometer of fission fragments CORSET and the neutron multi-detector DEMON. As a result of the experiments, mass and energy distributions (MED) of fission fragments, fission, quasi-fission and evaporation residues cross sections, multiplicities of neutrons and gamma quanta and their dependence on the mechanism of formation and decay of compound systems have been studied.

Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, JINR, 141980 Dubna, Russia I Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgique 21nstitut de Recherches Subatomiques, CNRS-IN2P3, Strasbourg, France 'Department of Physics, University of Messina and INFN, Italy "Institute of Nuclear Physics of the National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan 480082 Almaty, Kazakhstan 'Institute of Physics SASc, 84228 Bratislava, Slovakia

We have studied the mass and energy distributions of fission fragments from the two reactions ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}{+}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$ and ${}^{48}\mathrm{Ca}{+}^{168}\mathrm{Er}$ that lead to the same compound nucleus ${}^{216}{\mathrm{Ra}}^{*}.$ Despite the fact that the excitation energy was around 40 MeV in both cases, the contribution from asymmetric fission in the first reaction is only around 1.5% but is about 30% in the second. This marked increase in the yield of asymmetric products is connected to the quasifission process, in which important shell effects become evident. The mass-energy distributions are interpreted in terms of an independent decay mode competing with the normal fusion-fission process and possibly leading to a significant suppression of the fusion cross section itself.

Two components in the ${M}_{\ensuremath{\gamma}}(M)$ distribution were established in detailed measurements of mean $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray multiplicities from fission fragments of ${}^{226}\mathrm{Th}$. For the first time in the ${M}_{\ensuremath{\gamma}}(M)$ dependencies we were able to distinguish two components associated with primary and the final (after the neutron evaporation) fission fragments, and show that at the scission point ${M}_{\ensuremath{\gamma}}$ is extremely sensitive to symmetric and asymmetric modes of fission. Theoretical calculations of the pre-scission shapes of the fissioning nuclei confirm our conclusions.