Abstract
An atomic clock based on x-ray fluorescence yields has been used to estimate the mean characteristic time for fusion followed by fission in reactions at . Inner shell vacancies are created during the collisions in the electronic structure of the possibly formed compound nuclei. The filling of these vacancies accompanied by a x-ray emission with energies characteristic of can take place only if the atomic transitions occur before nuclear fission. Therefore, the x-ray yield characteristic of the united atom with 120 protons is strongly related to the fission time and to the vacancy lifetimes. x rays from the element with have been unambiguously identified from a coupled analysis of the involved nuclear reaction mechanisms and of the measured photon spectra. A minimum mean fission time has been deduced for from the measured x-ray multiplicity.
- Received 14 November 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.122701
© 2012 American Physical Society