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New experimental data on energy loss of 4 He, 16 O, 40 Ar, 48 Ca and 84 Kr ions in thin, self-supporting foils of C, Al, Ni, Ag, Lu, Au, Pb and Th are presented. The measurements, using the TOF-E method, were done in a very broad energy range around the stopping power maximum; typically from 0.1 to 11 MeV/u. When available, the extracted stopping power values are compared with the previously published data. The overall agreement is good although a fair comparison is difficult as the covered energy range is much larger than in previous measurements. The small error bars and a broad coverage allowed us to test the predictions of theoretical codes: PASS, CasP, and semi-empirical programs: SRIM, LET, MSTAR, and the Hubert table predictions. The deviations of PASS predictions from the experimental data do not exceed 20% for all the measured combinations. CasP predictions are within 15% from the data for heavier ions but diverge up to 40% for lighter ions. Semi-empirical approaches, including SRIM, deviate from the experimental data by less than 5% for the regions already covered by previous experiments but err by about 10–20% for the ion/target combinations that were not measured before: Ca in Lu as well as Kr in Lu, Pb, and Th.

We have tested the hypothesis that for systems 24Mg + 90,92Zr, the shape of the barrier height distribution is not influenced by transfers processes. The experiment was performed using the ICARE detector system at the Warsaw Cyclotron. Having measured the transfer cross sections of the near-barrier collisions of 24Mg + 90,92Zr, we have found them to be roughly half of the value obtained for the 20Ne + 90,92Zr systems. From that observation, we conclude that in the 24Mg + 90,92Zr case, the leading cause of washing out the barrier distribution structure is the partial dissipation of relative kinetic energy into the non-collective excitation of the system. peerReviewed

Calorimetric low temperature detectors (CLTD’s) for heavy-ion detection have been combined with the LOHENGRIN recoil separator at the ILL Grenoble for the determination of nuclear charge distributions of fission fragments produced by thermal neutron-induced fission of $$^{235}$$ U. The LOHENGRIN spectrometer separates fission fragments according to their mass-to-ionic-charge ratio and their kinetic energy, but has no selectivity with respect to nuclear charges Z. For the separation of the nuclear charges, one can exploit the nuclear charge-dependent energy loss of the fragments passing through an energy degrader foil (absorber method). This separation requires detector systems with high energy resolution and negligible pulse height defect, as well as degrader foils which are optimized with respect to thickness, homogeneity, and energy loss straggling. In the present, contribution results of test measurements at the Maier Leibnitz tandem accelerator facility in Munich with $$^{109}$$ Ag and $$^{127}$$ I beams with the aim to determine the most suitable degrader material, as well as measurements at the Institut Laue–Langevin will be presented. These include a systematic study of the quality of Z-separation of fission fragments in the mass range $$82\le A \le 132$$ and a systematic measurement of $$^{92}$$ Rb fission yields, as well as investigations of fission yields toward the symmetry region.

An array of calorimetric low temperature detectors (CLTD’s) for energy sensitive detection of heavy ions was combined with time-of-flight (TOF) detectors to obtain a detector system for high resolution mass identification of low energy heavy ions. In addition the same setup was used to prove the ability of CLTD’s to be used in electronic stopping power measurements for heavy ions in matter. Experiments with 50 MeV 63Cu and 65Cu ions at the tandem accelerator at the MPI at Heidelberg, and with 25 to 250 MeV 238U ions at the UNILAC accelerator at GSI at Darmstadt have been performed. For 63,65Cu at 50 MeV a mass resolution of Δm(FWHM)=0.9 amu, and for 238U in an energy range of 65 to 150 MeV a resolution of Δm(FWHM)=1.28 amu, was obtained. The results for stopping powers of 238U in carbon and gold are presented and compared with theoretical predictions and data from the literature.

The new physical effects of T-odd asymmetry of the emission of light charged particles (LCPs) during the ternary fission of some heavy nuclei by cold polarized neutrons have been experimentally studied. The coefficients of triple scalar and vector correlation of the pulses of light particles and fission fragments (TRI effect) and the fivefold correlation of the same vectors (ROT effect) have been measured. These effects are believed to be caused by the rotation of polarized fissioning system around its polarization direction. The treatment of the experimental data for LCPs in the framework of this hypothesis leads to a good agreement between the calculation results and experimental data. The calculated value of the angle of rotation of the fission axis in the ternary fission of the polarized fissioning 236U* compound nucleus was used to process the results of measuring the ROT effect for γ photons from binary-fission fragments of the same nucleus. A satisfactory description of these experimental data is obtained which serves a convincing confirmation of the rotation hypothesis.

The presented work focuses on the development of a differential pumping system using double-sided silicon-strip detectors to separate the ultra-high vacuum of a storage ring from subsequent detectors and outgassing components placed in an auxiliary vacuum. Such a technical concept will give the opportunity to use telescope-like detector systems in an ultra-high vacuum environment, such as a storage ring, without enclosing the entire system in a pocket. Therefore, it will enable the detection of recoil particles with the smallest possible energy due to the use of the innermost strip detector as an active window. Our results prove that such an assembly is feasible without having an effect, within experimental errors, on the performance of the strip detector. Vacuum separation better than six orders of magnitude was achieved with the ultra-high vacuum side reaching down to the 10(-10) mbar pressure region. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A method for the identification of energetic charged particles has been investigated based on the employment of pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) in a silicon detector in addition to conventional time-of-flight (ToF) techniques. The method makes use of the fact that, at fixed energy, the particle's velocity, or ToF, is a measure of the particle's mass A while the time structure of the current pulse in a silicon energy detector, used as the ToF stop, permits identification of nuclear charges Z. In the measurements presented here, ToF and PSD methods were applied simultaneously. We used micro-channel plate (MCP) detectors as fast time pick-offs and surface-barrier (SB) n-type Si detectors made from homogeneously neutron-transmutation-doped (n-TD) silicon. As the particles, products from the reactions of a 400 MeV 20Ne beam impinging on 12C, 27Al and 208Pb targets were employed. With using fast current-sensitive pre-amplifiers for the 250 and 800 μ m SB detectors a major progress in particle identification with respect to both, mass A and charge Z was achieved. In addition, using a stack of two closely mounted n-TD SB detectors, a timing measurement between the two detectors permitted to study PSD in the rear detector with the time trigger derived from the foremost one. Finally, the internal PSD method was implemented which determines pulse rise-time in single detectors from analyzing differentiated preamplifier timing signals.

Experiments have been performed for studying quaternary fission (QF) in spontaneous fission of 252Cf, on the one hand, and for the neutron-induced fission reactions 233, 235U(nth, f ), on the other hand. In this higher-multiplicity fission mode, by definition, four charged products appear in the final state. In other words, as a generalization of the ternary-fission process, not only one but two light charged particles (LCPs) are accompanying the splitting of an actinide nucleus into the customary pair of fission fragments. In the two sets of measurements, which have used quite different approaches, the yields of several QF reactions with α-particles and tritons as the LCPs have been determined and the corresponding kinetic-energy distributions of the α-particles measured. The QF process can appear in two basically different ways: i) the simultaneous creation of two LCPs in the act of fission (“true” QF) and ii) via a fast sequential decay of a single but particle-unstable LCP in common ternary fission (“pseudo” QF). Experimentally the two varieties of QF have been distinguished by exploiting the different patterns of angular correlations between the two outgoing LCPs. The experiments described in the present paper are the first to demonstrate that both types of reactions, true and pseudo QF, occur with quite comparable probabilities. As a new result also, the kinetic-energy distributions related to the two processes have been shown to be significantly different. For all QF reactions which could be explored, the yields for 252Cf(sf) were found to be roughly by an order of magnitude larger than the yields found in the 233U(nth, f ) and 235U(nth, f ) reactions. An interesting by-product has been the measurement of yields of excited LCPs which allows to deduce nuclear temperatures at scission by comparison to the respective yields in the ground state.

The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST), a 10 meter long LHC, 9 Tesla, test magnet is mounted on a moving platform that tracks the sun about 1.5 hours during sunrise, again during sunset. It moves ±8 0 vertically and ±40 0 horizontally. It has been taking data continuously since July 10, 2003. Data analyzed thus far yield an upper bound on the photon-axion coupling constant, g aγγ ⩽ 3 × 10 −10 GeV −1 for axion masses less than 5 × 10 −2 eV.

A new multiparameter experiment on ternary fission of 252Cf has recently been successfully performed by using the CODIS2 detector system and two GSI segmented Super Clover Ge γ-ray detectors. The experimental setup and the main subjects of interest are briefly described.

The results of experimental and theoretical studies of the double-differential proton and neutron spectra measured in coincidence with fission fragments in the deuteron-induced reaction on a 238U target at E d =65 MeV are presented. These spectra measured in the forward direction are analyzed in the plane-wave Born approximation by using the modified model of stripping into a continuum. The pre-neutron emission fission fragment mass distributions were measured for the (d, f), (d, pf), and (d, nf) reaction channels. The enhancement of highly asymmetric mass division in the (d, pf) channel for the low-energy part of the breakup proton spectrum was observed. The (d, pf) channel can be used to imitate the neutron-induced fission at intermediate energy. The fission characteristics were analyzed in the model taking into account nuclear friction and relevant fission modes.

Ternary fission induced by cold polarized neutrons was studied for the two isotopes 233U and 235U at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. In particular two types of angular correlations between the spin of the incoming neutrons and the emission directions of both, the fission fragments (FF) and the ternary particles (TP), were investigated. For FF and TP detectors facing the target at right angles to the neutron beam, first, for longitudinally polarized neutrons a triple correlation between spin and the emission of outgoing particles was explored and, second, for transversally polarized neutrons parity violating asymmetries in the emission of FFs and TPs were analyzed. Nonzero expectation values for the triple correlation were oberserved in the present experiments for the first time.

A pronounced fine structure (FS) in the form of distinct peaks was observed in neutron gated mass spectra from the decay of the 278110 composite system produced in the reaction 238U + 40Ar (243 MeV) at an initial excitation energy E * > 70 MeV. The FS peaks are located in the vicinity of mass numbers 70-80, 100, and 130, which correspond to those of magic nuclei (clusters). In the data there is also evidence for a new type of decay -- collinear cluster tripartition of an excited nucleus.

Fission fragment mass distributions down to super-asymmetric mass region and both pre- and post-scission neutron multiplicity for238U(p,fission) reaction atEp = 20, 35, 50, 60 MeV and for232Th(p, fission) reaction atEp = 50, 60 MeV were measured using HENDES set-up. The results indicate enhancement for super-asymmetric mass division at intermediate excitation energies.

An experiment was performed on prompt γ-ray emission in binary and α-particle accompanied spontaneous fission of 252C f using the Darmstadt-Heidelberg 4π NaI Crystal Ball spectrometer. The enhancement in γ-ray yield, denoted as the “high-energy component”, which appears between 3.5 and 8 MeV and in the region of near-symmetric fragment mass splits, was observed to be equally pronounced in both fission modes. Analyzing the fragment mass dependence of the mean γ-ray multiplicity in both fission modes clearly identifies the disintegration of equilibrated fission fragments in a narrow mass range around the double-magic 132Sn as the source of these γ-rays.

The recoil spectrometer Lohengrin of the Institute Laue-Langevin in Grenoble was used to measure the yields of light fission fragments separated according to their mass and nuclear charge for the mass-number range 76 ⩽ A L ⩽ 93 in the cold fission regime. Neutron emission being forbidden energetically, the correlated heavy fission fragments including their kinetic energies, as well as the total excitation energy TXE of both fragments were determined by conservation laws. Close to TXE = 0, the yields seem to be strongly influenced by the level density of the fragments. In order to obtain yields for the fission into the ground-states of the two fragments, the measured yields per excitation energy interval were divided by calculated level densities for the two fragment system and extrapolated to TXE = 0. These deduced ground-state yields are influenced by the Q values and by the potential energy of the fragments at the scission configuration. The observed trends in the ground-state yields as a function of nuclear charge and mass may qualitatively be reproduced by calculated penetrabilities through the scission barrier. In these calculations, no correspondence between the calculated penetrabilities and the ground-state yields is found if calculated fragment ground-state deformations are used. There is no difference in the influence of neutron and proton pairing on the ground-state yields.

A decommissioned LHC test magnet is being prepared as the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) experiment. The magnet has a field of 9.6 Tesla and length of 10 meters. It is being mounted on a platform to track the sun over ±8° vertically and ±45°, horizontally. A sensitivity in axion-photon coupling gαγγ < 5 × 10−11GeV−1 can be reached for mα ≤ 10−2eV, and with a gas filled tube-can reach gαγγ ≤ 10−10GeV−1 for axion masses mα < 2eV.

High-spin states in 22Ne have been studied using the 14C(12C,α)22Ne(α)18O reaction at E(12 C)= 44MeV. The spin assignments were obtained as results of the analysis of double (α, α) angular correlations with the residual 18O nucleus in the 0+ ground state. The obtained values of spin and parity of five levels are: 20.0 MeV (9−), 20.7 MeV (11−), 21.6 MeV (9−), 22.2 MeV (12+), 25.0 MeV (9−).

Inducing fission by polarized neutrons allows studying subtle effects of the dynamics of the process. In the present experiments ternary fission of 235U and 239Pu was investigated with cold neutrons in the (n,f) reaction at the Institut Laue‐Langevin, Grenoble. Asymmetries in the emission of ternary particles were discovered by making use of the neutron spin flipping. It was found that two effects are interfering. There is first an asymmetry in the total yields of ternary particles having been called the TRI‐effect. Second, it was observed that the angular distributions of ternary particles are shifted back and forth when flipping the neutron spin. This shift was named ROT effect. Guided by trajectory calculations of the three‐body decay, the signs and sizes of the ROT effect are interpreted in terms of the K‐numbers of the transition states at the saddle point of fission.

Angular distributions of light charged particles relative to the momentum of the light fission fragment were studied in ternary fission induced by cold polarized neutrons. It was discovered that the angular distribution is asymmetric with respect to a plane determined by the direction of incident neutron spin and the light fragment momentum. The violation of the mirrorlike symmetry was established at the level of ∼10−2–10−4 for three reactions studied: 233U(n,f), 235U(n,f) and 239Pu(n,f). In spite of the smallness of the effects the neutron spin flip method allowed to make reliable measurements. The current status of the experimental studies of the effect and its interpretation are presented. Perspectives for further studies of the new phenomenon are discussed.

The energy distribution of the ternary $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particles in spontaneous fission of $^{252}\mathrm{Cf}$ was measured. For the first time an energy threshold as low as 1 MeV was reached. The experiment used an array of unshielded silicon detectors measuring energy and time-of-flight (TOF) of ternary particles in coincidence with fission fragments. The TOF resolution of the system was sufficient for clear separation of $^{6}\mathrm{He}$ and tritons from $^{4}\mathrm{He}$. The statistics were adequate to extract the $^{6}\mathrm{He}$/$^{4}\mathrm{He}$ yield ratio. For both $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ and $^{6}\mathrm{He}$, an excess in the yield (as compared to a Gaussian shape) was observed at energies below 9 MeV. The measured ternary $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ spectrum was corrected for the distortion induced by the detection geometry covering equatorial particle emission only. The emission angle was found to affect mainly the width of the energy distribution by up to 1 MeV.

We report here preliminary results of experiments concerning the influence of “weak” channels on fusion and quasielastic barrier distributions. Some results of measurements of these distributions in the 20Ne+208Pb system and of transfer probabilities for 20Ne+natNi, 90,92Zr, 118Sn and 208Pb backscattering at near‐barrier energies will be presented.

Ternary fission of the standard reaction 235U(nth,f) induced by cold polarized neutrons has been investigated. Fission fragments and light charged particles were recorded in coincidence. Following cold neutron capture the compound nucleus 236U* has spin 3− or 4−. At the saddle point of the fissioning 236U* nucleus these states are collective. They are expected to retain a sizable collectivity down to the scission point. In fact, a collective rotation has been sensed by the shift in the angular distribution of the light charged particles which depends on the orientation of neutron polarization. Direct observation of the rotation of 236U* excited in a cold neutron reaction is reported here for the first time. It is proposed to call the new phenomenon the “ROT‐effect”.

In the present paper we describe an experiment performed on the reaction 238U + 4He (40 MeV) using a two‐arm TOF‐E (time‐of‐flight vs. energy) spectrometer with micro‐ channel plate detectors and mosaics of PIN diodes. This experiment has aimed at searching for fine structures in the total kinetic energy vs. fragment mass (TKE ‐ M) distributions of binary events, and disclosing rare ternary decay modes others than already known from ternary fission. Details of the procedures of data handling are briefly described as well.

International audience; A novel method to search for the anisotropic emission of prompt neutrons in the center-of-mass system of fission fragments is presented. The anisotropy is conjectured to be due to the large spins of fission fragments are known to carry. Triple neutron- neutron-fragment correlations in spontaneous fission of $^{252}$Cf were investigated in an exploratory experiment dubbed CORA-DEMON experiment. Fission fragments were intercepted in a double ionization chamber while neutrons were spotted in 2 two-dimensional cylindrical walls of Demon detectors with the target on the vertical cylinder axis. A new method of analysis of triple angular correlations between 2 neutrons and a fission fragment was applied. Preliminary results are reported.

P‐odd and T‐odd asymmetries in the emission of fragments and light particles have been investigated in ternary fission induced by polarized neutrons. P‐odd asymmetries unambiguously point to a violation of parity in the fission process. By contrast, T‐odd asymmetries do not necessarily imply a violation of time reversal invariance. The asymmetries observed are rather due to a final state interaction between the light ternary particle and the nucleus from which they are ejected. New results with interesting information on the ternary fission process are presented.

In recent multi‐parameter studies of spontaneous and thermal neutron induced fission, 252Cf(sf) and 235U(nth,f) respectively, the energies and emission angles of fission fragments and light charged particles were measured. Fragments were detected by an energy and angle sensitive twin ionization chamber while the light charged particles were identified by a series of ΔE‐Erest telescopes. Up to Be the light particle isotopes could be disentangled. In addition, in the 252Cf(sf) experiment, gammas emitted by the fragments were analyzed by a pair of large‐volume segmented clover Ge detectors. Here the main interest is to study the γ‐decay and the anisotropy of gammas emitted by fragments and light particles. On the other hand, the high count rates achieved in the U‐experiment performed at the high flux reactor of the ILL, Grenoble, should allow to explore fragment‐particle correlations in very rare events like quaternary fission. At the present stage of data evaluation, yields and energy distributions of light particles are available. For the present contribution in particular the yields of Be‐isotopes for the two reactions studied are compared and discussed. For 252Cf(sf) these isotopic yields were hitherto not known.

Hypothetical axion-like particles with a two-photon interaction would be produced in the Sun by the Primakoff process. In a laboratory magnetic field (``axion helioscope'') they would be transformed into X-rays with energies of a few keV. Using a decommissioned LHC test magnet, CAST has been running for about 6 months during 2003. The first results from the analysis of these data are presented here. No signal above background was observed, implying an upper limit to the axion-photon coupling < 1.16 10^{-10} GeV^-1 at 95% CL for m_a, Comment: 4 pages, accepted by PRL. Final version after the referees comments

V. Z. Goldberg et al. ; 10 pags.; 10 figs.; 2 tabs. ; PACS number(s): 21.10.2k, 24.30.2v, 27.30.1t

The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) searches for axions coming from photon to axion conversion in the sun's core, as stated by the Primakoff effect. Axions arise in particle physics as a consequence of the breaking of Peccei-Quinn symmetry which has been introduced as a solution to the strong CP problem. As cosmological axions they are candidates for at least some part of cold Dark Matter.They are also expected to be produced copiously in stellar interiors with energies as high as the thermal photons undergoing photon to axion conversion. In our sun the axion energy spectrum peaks at about 4.4 keV, extending up to 10 keV. CAST collected preliminary data in 2002 and data taking with its full capability will start in the beginning of 2003., NEB-X Conference on "New Developments in Gravity", May 30-June 2, 2002, Chalkidiki, GREECE. 5 pages, 2 figures

Identification of charged particles is an important method in nuclear spectroscopy. We have achieved a major breakthrough that makes the pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) method with a single solid-state detector comparable to and sometimes better than the traditional telescope technique. By using rear-side injection in over-biased surface barrier n-type Si detectors made from homogeneously doped n-TD silicon, and extracting the pulse-shape information already at the preamplifier level we have reached improved Z and even A discrimination over a wide dynamic range. Previously good separation with the PSD technique required a major degradation of time resolution and inferior energy resolution. Currently we have pushed down the dynamical time range to below 35 ns and reached time resolution of about 200 ps fwhm while maintaining good energy resolution characteristic of silicon detectors. The lowest energy threshold for Z separation of intermediate mass fragments (IMF) achieved with a 250 /spl mu/m thick detector is equivalent to a range of about 20 /spl mu/m in silicon. For IMFs with ranges higher than 80 /spl mu/m of silicon we got full isotope separation. Details of this study are presented, and the application of our method in recent nuclear physics experiments is briefly discussed.

The study of neutron-rich light nuclei near the drip line has attracted much attention as they exhibit a particular nuclear structure, namely an extended distribution of the valence neutrons surrounding a compact core. Recently the elastic proton scattering from 6,8He and 8,9,11Li at 700 MeV/u using an inverse kinematics was successfully measured at GSI [1,2]. A high-pressure hydrogen-filled ionization chamber was used as the target and a proton detector. The previous experiments were performed in the small range 0.002 ≤| t |≤ 0.05 (GeV/c)2 of the four-momentum transfer squared t and have yielded valuable information on the nuclear sizes and radial structure of nuclear matter density distributions with the aid of the Glauber multiple scattering theory. Recently, a novel experimental approach has been accomplished with the aim to deduce the differential p 6,8He cross sections in the t-range 0.05 ≤| t |≤ 0.25 (GeV/c)2 close to the expected first diffraction minimum.