Ternary and Multicluster Cold Fission

Abstract

Recently obtained experimental results on particle accompanied cold fission of ²⁵² Cf suggest the existence of a short-lived quasi-molecular state. Within our three-center phenomenological model, described in this lecture, we found a possible explanation based on a new minimum in the deformation energy at a separation distance very close to the touching point. Half-lives of some quasimolecular states which could be formed in ¹⁰ Be and ¹² C accompanied fission of ²⁵² Cf are roughly estimated to be the order of 1 ns, and 1 ms, respectively. By extending our unified approach of cold fission, cluster radioactivity and α-decay to multifragment fission we obtain informations on the most probable mechanism of this complex process. Besides fission into two or three fragments, a heavy nucleus spontaneously break into four, five or six nuclei. Examples are presented for cold fission of ²⁵² Cf, accompanied by following emitted clusters: 2α, α +¹⁰ Be, 3α, α + ⁶ He + ¹⁰ Be, and 4α.