TRANSMISSION RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY OF THE DOUBLY ODD Np-238 IN (d, pf) REACTION

The fission probability of Np-238 was measured as a function of the excitation energy in the energy range of E* = 5.4-6.2 MeV in order to search for hyperdeformed rotational bands using the (d, pf) transfer reaction on a radioactive Np-237 target. The experiment was performed at the Tandem accelerator of the Maier-Leibnitz Laboratory at Garching employing the Np-237(d, pf) reaction at a bombarding energy of E-d = 12 MeV. Overlapping resonances have been observed at excitation energies around E* = 5.5 MeV. These resonances could be ordered into a hyperdeformed rotational band by the preliminary analysis of the high-resolution excitation energy spectrum. The existence of a third minimum in the fission barrier of Np-238 is also supported by nuclear reaction code (TALYS1.4) calculations which was used to describe the experimental data.