Production of neutron-rich nuclei in fragmentation reactions of Sn132 projectiles at relativistic energies

The fragmentation of neutron-rich Sn132 nuclei produced in the fission of U238 projectiles at 950 A MeV has been investigated at the FRagment Separator (FRS) at GSI. This work represents the first investigation of fragmentation of medium-mass radioactive projectiles with a large neutron excess. The measured production cross sections of the residual nuclei are relevant for the possible use of a two-stage reaction scheme (fission + fragmentation) for the production of extremely neutron-rich medium-mass nuclei in future rare-ion-beam facilities. Moreover, the new data will provide a better understanding of the “memory” effect in fragmentation reactions.