Time of flight (TOF) spectrometer for accurate measurement of mass and angular distribution of fission fragments in heavy ion induced fission reactions

The performance of a dual time of flight (TOF) spectrometer using two 24 cm×10 cm area X-Y position sensitive Multi-Wire Proportional Counters (MWPC) is reported. Good separation of compound nuclear fission channel from elastic, quasi-elastic and non-compound fission channels have been achieved. Time calibration of the spectrometer using a technique, dependent on the detector independence of the mass or kinetic energy distributions gave a three times better mass resolutions compared to the conventional calibration technique using elastically scattered projectiles in a heavy ion induced fission reaction. Detail experimental methods in determining fission fragment mass and angular distribution have been presented and discussed.