Probing fusion-fission dynamics in 203Bi

Background: Complete fusion between two massive nuclei after capture inside the potential barrier is inhibited by competing fission-like processes. The target-projectile composite system may reseparate after capture without proceeding towards formation of the compound nucleus (CN), which is equilibrated in all degrees of freedom. The nature of these non-CN fission (NCNF) processes and factors that affect them are not completely known yet. Purpose: The nuclear mass regions from where NCNF processes begin to manifest themselves are not clearly demarcated. This work aims to study the onset of NCNF, if any, in the mass region similar to 200. Methods: Fission fragment (FF) mass and angular distribution (MAD) and pre-scission and post-scission neutron multiplicities were measured for the reaction F-19+W-184 at a laboratory energy (E-lab) range of 84-125 MeV. The measurements were carried out using two multiwire proportional counters (MWPC) to detect the FFs in coincidence and four neutron detectors tomeasure neutron time of flight (TOF). Statistical model (SM) calculation was performed. Results: No significantmass-angle correlation was observed in the MAD plots. Extracted mass ratio distributions were single-peaked and of Gaussian shape. Measured pre-scission neutron multiplicity values indicated dissipative nature of CN decay for this reaction. Conclusions: No clear signatures of NCNF were observed in the studied reaction, indicating that the target-projectile composite system predominantly proceeds towards formation of the CN after capture.