https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-024-01264-z
Review
80 years of experimental photo-fission research
Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics, “Horia Hulubei” National Institute for R& D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Str. Reactorului 30, 077125, Măgurele, Romania
a
dimiter.balabanski@eli-np.ro
b
paul.constantin@eli-np.ro
Received:
11
January
2023
Accepted:
10
February
2024
Published online:
22
February
2024
High energy photons, or 
-rays, were among the very first probes used to induce fission. Their significant impact in this field is due to particular properties of the -rays, such as the lack of a Coulomb barrier and the low, well-defined angular momentum transfer, but also to the variety of -ray sources developed over the years. This variety, going from simple but intense bremsstrahlung beams, through complex virtual photon excitations, to high resolution monochromatic sources of several types, gave rise to extensive photo-fission research programs. The review presents the evolution over more than 80 years of the methodology and instrumentation used in photo-fission experiments. The most important developments in fundamental and applied science are summarized and discussed. The main improvements necessary for the progression of this field into the age of nuclear photonics are outlined.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
