Fission product yield distribution in the 12, 14, and 16 MeV bremsstrahlung-induced fission of 232Th
Abstract.The absolute cumulative yields of various fission products in the 12, 14, and 16 MeV bremsstrahlung-induced fission of 232Th were determined using a recoil catcher and an off-line $ \gamma$-ray spectrometric technique using the ELBE electron linac of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf in Dresden, Germany. The mass chain yields were obtained from the absolute cumulative yields by correcting the charge distribution. The peak-to-valley ratio, average light mass ($\langle A_{L}\rangle$) and heavy mass ($ \langle A_{H}\rangle$) values, and average number of neutrons ($ \langle n\rangle_{exp}$) in the bremsstrahlung-induced fission of 232Th at different excitation energies were obtained from the mass chain yield data. The present study and existing literature data for the 232Th($\gamma$, f) reaction are compared with similar data for the 238U($\gamma$, f) reaction at various excitation energies, and surprisingly different behavior was found in the two fissioning systems.