Yields of neutron-rich nuclei by actinide photofission in giant dipole resonance region

Abstract

Photofission of actinides is studied in the region of nuclear excitation energies that covers the entire giant dipole resonance (GDR) region. A comparative analysis of the behavior of the symmetric and asymmetric modes of photon induced fission as a function of the average excitation energy of the fissioning nucleus is performed. The mass distributions of $^{238}$U photofission fragments are obtained at the endpoint bremsstrahlung energy of 29.1 MeV which corresponds to mean photon energy of 13.7$\pm$0.3 MeV that coincides with GDR peak for $^{238}$U photofission. The integrated yield of $^{238}$U photofission as well as charge distribution of photofission products are calculated and its role in the production of neutron-rich nuclei and their exoticity is explored.