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Low energy fission of 234,235,236,238U and 237,238Np radioactive beams, provided by the GSI/FRS facility, has been studied using the R3B/SOFIA setup. The latter allows, on an event-by-event basis, to simultaneously identify, in terms of their mass and atomic numbers, the fissioning nucleus in coincidence with both fission fragments after prompt-neutron emission. This presentation reports on new results on elemental, isobaric and isotopic yields.

In the last decades, measurements of spallation, fragmentation and Coulex induced fission reactions in inverse kinematics have provided valuable data to accurately investigate the fission dynamics and nuclear structure at large deformations of a large variety of stable and non-stable heavy nuclei. The collected data were used to constrain dynamic and nuclear structure parameters of different de-excitation models, such as ABLA and GEF, but the data can also be used to constrain the parameterizations describing the pre-fragment properties after the nuclear collision, such as the angular momentum gained by the pre-fragment. In this work, the fissioning system yields are compared to calculations assuming different parameterizations for modeling the angular momentum gained by the compound nuclei. Our findings indicate that the parameterizations utilized by abrasion models clearly underestimate the angular momentum, resulting in the underestimation of the production of lighter fissioning systems.

We report on the second SOFIA experiment, dedicated to the fission yields of 236U*, analog to 235U(n,f). The measurement is based on the inverse kinematics method, using a relativistic, secondary beam of 236U. Both fission fragments are identified in mass and charge in the SOFIA recoil spectrometer. The obtained isotopic yields are compared with existing spectroscopy measurements and the elemental yields are used to discuss the treatment of the even-odd effect with energy in nuclear data libraries.

SOFIA (Studies On Fission with Aladin) is a new experimental set-up dedicated to accurate measurement of fission-fragments isotopic yields. It is located at GSI, the only place to use inverse kinematics at relativistic energies in order to study the (γ,f) electromagnetic-induced fission. The SOFIA set-up is a large-acceptance magnetic spectrometer, which allows to fully identify both fission fragments in coincidence on the whole fission-fragment range. This paper will report on fission yields obtained in 234,235,236,238U(γ,f) reactions.

The SOFIA (Studies On FIssion with Aladin) experiment aims at measuring fission-fragments isotopic yields with high accuracy using inverse kinematics at relativistic energies. This experimental technique allows to fully identify the fission fragments in nuclear charge and mass number, thus providing very accurate isotopic yields for low energy fission of a large variety of fissioning systems. This report focuses on the latest results obtained with this set-up concerning electromagnetic-induced fission of 236U.

Lifetimes of first 4+ and 6+ states have been measured in neutron-rich isotopes of Zr, Mo, Ru and Pd using the recoil distance Doppler shift method at GANIL. The nuclei were produced through a fusion-fission reaction in inverse kinematics. The fission fragments were fully identified in the large-acceptance VAMOS spectrometer and γ-rays were detected in coincidence with the EXOGAM germanium array. Lifetimes of excited states in the range of 1–100 ps were measured with the Cologne plunger. Preliminary lifetime results are presented as well as a discussion on the evolution of the collectivity in this region.

A cold neutron induced fission experiment recently took place at the Institute Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble. The neutron beam was provided by the nuclear reactor facility at ILL and the detector setup that was used for the γ-spectroscopy of the fission products consisted mainly of the detectors of the EXOGAM array [1], thereby the name of the campaign is EXILL. The main purpose of our measurement was to investigate the nuclei in the region with N = 50 close to 78Ni as well as the nuclei close to the N = 82 shell closure. In this paper, the motivation of the experiment is described as well as the experimental setup and the status of the ongoing data analysis.

Lifetimes of short-lived excited states in a wide range of neutron-rich fission fragments were measured using the recoil distance Doppler shift (RDDS) technique, which was applied to fusion-fission reactions in inverse kinematics for the first time. The fission fragments were identified eventby- event in mass, charge, and atomic number using the VAMOS magnetic spectrometer at GANIL. Gamma rays originating from the fission fragments were measured with the EXOGAM array of Ge Clover detectors around the target position. Using a degrader, the change in the Doppler shift of the γ ray allows the application of the RDDS method. Details of the experimental technique will be discussed and the status for the ongoing analysis for odd-mass yttrium isotopes will be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lifetimes of excited states in 107Tc, 109Rh, 111Rh, and 113Rh were measured at GANIL using the Recoil-Distance Doppler Shift method. The neutron-rich nuclei were produced in fission reactions in inverse kinematics with a 238U beam impinging on a 9Be target. Fission fragments were identified event-by-event in the ray-tracing spectrometer VAMOS++ and correlated with prompt γ rays observed around the target position with the EXOGAM Ge detector array. Several lifetimes were obtained for states in the positive-parity yrast bands in the four nuclei and compared to triaxial particle-rotor calculations. The results clarify the configuration for the strongest positive-parity band in 107Tc and suggest a gradual increase of triaxial deformation with atomic number Z, reaching almost maximum triaxiality for the neutron-rich Rh nuclei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The neutron-deficient osmium isotopic chain provides a great laboratory for the study of shape evolution, with the transition from the soft triaxial rotor in 168Os to the well-deformed prolate rotor in 180Os, while shape coexistence appears around N=96 in 172Os. Therefore, the study of the Os isotopic chain should provide a better understanding of shape changes in nuclei and a detailed scrutiny of nuclear structure calculations. In this paper, the lifetimes of the low-lying yrast states of 170Os have been measured for the first time to investigate the shape evolution with neutron number. Purpose: Lifetimes of excited states in the ground-state band of 170Os are measured to investigate the shape evolution with neutron number in osmium isotopes and compare with state-of-the-art calculations. Methods: The states of interest were populated via the fusion-evaporation reaction 142Nd(32S,4n) at a bombarding energy of 170 MeV at the ALTO facility from IPN (Orsay, France). Lifetimes of the 21+ and 41+ states in 170Os were measured with the recoil-distance Doppler-shift method using the Orsay universal plunger system. Results: Lifetimes of the two first excited states in 170Os were measured for the first time. A very small B(E2;421+→221+)/B(E2;221+→021+)=0.38(11) was found, which is very uncharacteristic for collective nuclei. These results were compared to state-of-the-art beyond-mean-field calculations. Conclusions: Although theoretical results give satisfactory results for the energy of the first few excited states in 170Os and the B(E2;221+→021+) they fail to reproduce the very small B(E2;421+→221+), which remains a puzzle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking benefit of the R3B/SOFIA setup to measure the mass and the nuclear charge of both fission fragments in coincidence with the total prompt-neutron multiplicity, the scission configurations are inferred along the thorium chain, from the asymmetric fission in the heavier isotopes to the symmetric fission in the neutron-deficient thorium. Against all expectations, the symmetric scission in the light thorium isotopes shows a compact configuration, which is in total contrast to what is known in the fission of the heavier thorium isotopes and heavier actinides. This new main symmetric scission mode is characterized by a significant drop in deformation energy of the fission fragments of about 19 MeV, compared to the well-known symmetric scission in the uranium-plutonium region.

The lifetimes of the first excited 2^{+}, 4^{+}, and 6^{+} states in ^{98}Zr were measured with the recoil-distance Doppler shift method in an experiment performed at GANIL. Excited states in ^{98}Zr were populated using the fission reaction between a 6.2  MeV/u ^{238}U beam and a ^{9}Be target. The γ rays were detected with the EXOGAM array in correlation with the fission fragments identified by mass and atomic number in the VAMOS++ spectrometer. Our result shows a very small B(E2;2_{1}^{+}→0_{1}^{+}) value in ^{98}Zr, thereby confirming the very sudden onset of collectivity at N=60. The experimental results are compared to large-scale Monte Carlo shell model and beyond-mean-field calculations. The present results indicate the coexistence of two additional deformed shapes in this nucleus along with the spherical ground state.