Experiments on the transmutation of fluorine by protons and deutrones

Abstract

The transmutations of fluorine under bombardment with high speed particles have been studied in considerably less detail than have those of elements of lover atomic number. Of such investigations as have been made, the excitation of γ-rays by the bombardment of fluorine with protons has attracted most attention. Experiments by Hafstad, Heydenberg and Tuve (1936 ) and by Herd, Kerst and McKibben (1937) have, for example, established that this γ-ray excitation is a resonance phenomenon, while Gaerttner and Crane (1937) have determined the quantum energies of the radiation with some precision. The mechanism of this γ-ray excitation has been the subject of much discussion. Gaerttner and Crane (1937) and Kalckar, Oppenheimer and Serber (1937) have in this connexion discussed the three following pro-cesses: 19 F+ 1 H→ 20 Ne*→ 20 Ne+ hv , (1) 19 F+ 1 H→ 16 O*+ 4 He→ 16 O+ 4 He+ hv (2) 19 F+ 1 H→ 20 Ne*→ 16 O+ 4He +hv.