Energy balance and deformation at scission in 240Pu fission

The experimental determination of the total excitation energy, the total kinetic energy, and the evaporation neutron multiplicity of fully identified fragments produced in transfer-induced fission of 240Pu, combined with reasonable assumptions, permits to extract the intrinsic and collective excitation energy of the fragments as a function of their atomic number, along with their quadrupole deformation and their distance at scission. The results show that the deformation increases with the atomic number, Z, except for a local maximum around Z=44 and a minimum around Z=50, associated with the effect of deformed shells at Z∼44, N∼64, and spherical shells in 132Sn, respectively. The distance between the fragments also shows a minimum around Z1=44, Z2=50, suggesting a mechanism that links the effect of structure with the length of the neck at scission.