Speaker
Description
Nuclear fission remains one of the most complex processes in low-energy nuclear physics, with some open questions spanning both fundamental nuclear structure and applied nuclear technology. To address these challenges, the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory (OCL) at the University of Oslo is establishing a dedicated fission research program that exploits its unique combination of light-ion beams and advanced instrumentation.
At the centre of this initiative is a newly designed experimental setup integrating scintillation-based fission fragment detectors [3, 4] with the high-efficiency OSCAR gamma-ray array [1, 2], enabling event-by-event coincidence measurements between fission fragments and prompt gamma rays. The OCL’s capability to deliver proton, deuteron, and alpha beams makes it ideally suited for particle-induced fission studies on actinide targets, allowing systematic variation of excitation energy and fissioning nucleus. Earlier measurements using conventional ionization-based gas detectors and the SiRi charged-particle telescope [5] demonstrated clear signatures of nuclear structure effects in the prompt fission gamma-ray spectrum (PFGS) and their sensitivity to excitation energy [6]. Building on this foundation, the program is advancing toward deployment of highly segmented S2 silicon detectors for charged-particle identification, which will deliver improved excitation-energy resolution and open new avenues for spectroscopic studies in fissioning systems.
The integration of multi-detector coincidence arrays with modern data acquisition and offline analysis routines will enable stringent constraints on theoretical fission models, with implications for both fundamental nuclear physics and reactor-relevant applications. This contribution will present the scientific motivation and experimental strategy of the OCL fission program and the status of the detector commissioning.
References
[1] F. Zeiser, et al., Nucl. Instrum.Meth. A 985, (2021) 164678.
[2] V. W., Ingeberg et al., Under production and soon to be submitted.
[3] M. Hunyadi et al., Adv. Photonics Res. 2025, 2400217.
[4] M. Hunyadi et al., Adv. Funct. Mater. 2022, 32, 2206645
[5] M. Guttormsen et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 648, (2011) 168–173.
[6] D. Gjestvang et al., Phys. Rev. C 103, (2021) 034609.