Fission product yield distribution in the 12, 14, and 16 MeV bremsstrahlung-induced fission of 232Th

The absolute cumulative yields of various fission products in the 12, 14, and 16 MeV bremsstrahlung-induced fission of 232Th were determined using a recoil catcher and an off-line \( \gamma\)-ray spectrometric technique using the ELBE electron linac of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf in Dresden, Germany. The mass chain yields were obtained from the absolute cumulative yields by correcting the charge distribution. The peak-to-valley ratio, average light mass (\(\langle A_{L}\rangle\)) and heavy mass (\( \langle A_{H}\rangle\)) values, and average number of neutrons (\( \langle n\rangle_{exp}\)) in the bremsstrahlung-induced fission of 232Th at different excitation energies were obtained from the mass chain yield data. The present study and existing literature data for the 232Th(\(\gamma\), f) reaction are compared with similar data for the 238U(\(\gamma\), f) reaction at various excitation energies, and surprisingly different behavior was found in the two fissioning systems.