Yields of products in the spontaneous fission of 252Cf by direct γ-ray spectroscopy

Abstract

Yields of products both in the light and heavy sides in the spontaneous fission of 252Cf were measured by direct γ-ray spectroscopy technique. By suitably choosing collection, cooling, and counting times, it was possible to observe products with half-lives between 1 min and 1 h. A definite fine structure, as observed in the case of thermal neutron fission of 235U and 239Pu, was not observed. A graphical method was utilized to obtain the number of neutrons as a function of fragment mass using cumulative chain yields.