Eur. Phys. J. A (2016) 52: 108
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2016-16108-0

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

Deformation effects in the alpha accompanied cold ternary fission of even-even ^244-260Cf isotopes

School of Pure and Applied Physics, Kannur University, Swami Anandatheertha Campus, 670327, Payyanur, Kerala, India

^* e-mail: drkpsanthosh@gmail.com

Received: 14 October 2015
Accepted: 13 February 2016
Published online: 26 April 2016

Abstract

Within the unified ternary fission model (UTFM), the alpha accompanied ternary fission of even-even ^244-260Cf isotopes has been studied by taking the interacting barrier as the sum of Coulomb and proximity potential. For the alpha accompanied ternary fission of the ²⁴⁴Cf isotope, the highest yield is obtained for the fragment combination ¹⁰⁸Ru + ⁴He + ¹³²Te, which contains the near doubly magic nucleus ¹³²Te (N = 80, Z = 52). In the case of ²⁴⁶Cf and ²⁴⁸Cf isotopes, the highest yield is obtained for the fragment combinations with the near doubly magic nucleus ¹³⁴Te (N = 82, Z = 52) as the heaviest fragment. The highest yield obtained for ²⁵⁰Cf, ²⁵²Cf, ²⁵⁴Cf, ²⁵⁶Cf, ²⁵⁸Cf and ²⁶⁰Cf isotopes is for the fragment combination with the doubly magic nucleus ¹³²Sn (N = 82), Z = 50 as the heaviest fragment. We have included the effect of deformation and orientation of fragments and this has revealed that in addition to the closed shell effect, ground-state deformation also plays an important role in the calculation of the relative yield of favorable fragment combinations. The computed isotopic yields for the alpha accompanied ternary fission of the ²⁵²Cf isotope are found to be in agreement with the experimental data. The emission probability and kinetic energy of the long-range alpha particle is calculated for the various isotopes of Cf and are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.