The unexpected observation of a metastable spontaneously fissioning state
in 242Am put in question the common knowledge of the fission barrier. The inability of the available fission models back then to explain the observed decay mode, based on a single-humped barrier, led to the consideration of shell effects modulating the liquid-drop energy as a function of deformation. In 1967,...
Although nuclear fission has been known and studied for more than 80 years, it remains a very active field of research. A deeper understanding of the fission process can be achieved by investigating the prompt and delayed gamma-ray cascades emitted by fission fragments.
We report on the results of a measurement campaign performed with the FIPPS gamma-ray spectrometer at the ILL, using an...
