High-precision measurement of total fission cross sections in spallation reactions of 208Pb and 238U

Total cross sections for proton- and deuteron-induced-fission of Pb-208 and U-238 have been determined in the energy range between 500 MeV and 1 GeV. The experiment has been performed in inverse kinematics at GSI Darmstadt, facilitating the counting of the projectiles and the identification of the reaction products. High precision between 5% and 7% has been achieved by individually counting the beam particles and by registering both fission fragments in coincidence with high efficiency and full Z resolution. Fission was clearly distinguished from other reaction channels. The results were found to deviate by up to 30% from Prokofiev's systematics on total fission cross sections. There is good agreement with an elaborate experiment performed in direct kinematics. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.87.034601