The SPIDER fission fragment spectrometer for fission product yield measurements

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2015.02.032
• Publication Date: 2015-04-06T01:09:39Z
• Authors: K. Meierbachtol; F. Tovesson; D. Shields; C. Arnold; R. Blakeley; T. Bredeweg; M. Devlin; A.A. Hecht; L.E. Heffern; J. Jorgenson; A. Laptev; D. Mader; J.M. O׳Donnell; A. Sierk; M. White
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy

Abstract The SPectrometer for Ion DEtermination in fission Research (SPIDER) has been developed for measuring mass yield distributions of fission products from spontaneous and neutron-induced fission. The 2 E –2 v method of measuring the kinetic energy ( E ) and velocity ( v ) of both outgoing fission products has been utilized, with the goal of measuring the mass of the fission products with an average resolution of 1 atomic mass unit (amu). The SPIDER instrument, consisting of detector components for time-of-flight, trajectory, and energy measurements, has been assembled and tested using 229 Th and 252 Cf radioactive decay sources. For commissioning, the fully assembled system measured fission products from spontaneous fission of 252 Cf. Individual measurement resolutions were met for time-of-flight (250 ps FWHM), spacial resolution (2 mm FHWM), and energy (92 keV FWHM for 8.376 MeV). Mass yield results measured from 252 Cf spontaneous fission products are reported from an E – v measurement.