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. 2020 May 22;124(20):202502.
doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.202502.

Evidence for a New Compact Symmetric Fission Mode in Light Thorium Isotopes

A Chatillon  1   2 , J Taïeb  1   2 , H Alvarez-Pol  3 , L Audouin  4 , Y Ayyad  3 , G Bélier  1   2 , J Benlliure  3 , G Boutoux  1 , M Caamaño  3 , E Casarejos  5 , D Cortina-Gil  6 , A Ebran  1   2 , F Farget  7 , B Fernández-Domínguez  6 , T Gorbinet  1 , L Grente  1 , A Heinz  8 , H T Johansson  8 , B Jurado  9 , A Kelić-Heil  10 , N Kurz  10 , B Laurent  1   2 , J-F Martin  1 , C Nociforo  10 , C Paradela  6 , E Pellereau  1 , S Pietri  10 , A Prochazka  10 , J L Rodríguez-Sánchez  6 , D Rossi  10 , H Simon  10 , L Tassan-Got  4 , J Vargas  6 , B Voss  10 , H Weick  10
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Evidence for a New Compact Symmetric Fission Mode in Light Thorium Isotopes

A Chatillon et al. Phys Rev Lett. .

Abstract

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.

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