Detection of the reaction products by technology, from the field of superheavy elements
A collaboration between the research departments plasma physics and SHE chemistry at GSI succeeded in generating protons by bombarding thin targets with short pulses (500 fs) of the high-intensity PHELIX laser (200 J), which in turn were used for the first time to induce a nuclear reaction, by irradiating uranium-238. This process produced, among others, the volatile fission fragments iodine and xenon, which were transported from the target chamber to an activated carbon filter by means of a fast gas-jet transport as it is often used in the chemical study of superheavy elements. The fragments‘ decay was registered with a germanium detector. This collaboration is a good example of synergies between widely differing fields of research at GSI - in this case plasma physics and nuclear chemistry
The results were published in Scientific Reports of the journal Nature (see below).
Links:
- Scientific publication in the journal Scientific Reports of Nature Research
- GSI Helmholzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt
- Press release GSI (pdf; english / german)
- PHELIX laser facility at GSI
- Helmholtz Institute Jena, Jena, Germany
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, USA
- Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
- Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
- Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany