Energy distribution of ternary {alpha} particles in spontaneous fission of {sup 252}Cf

The energy distribution of the ternary {alpha} particles in spontaneous fission of {sup 252}Cf was measured. For the first time an energy threshold as low as 1 MeV was reached. The experiment used an array of unshielded silicon detectors measuring energy and time-of-flight (TOF) of ternary particles in coincidence with fission fragments. The TOF resolution of the system was sufficient for clear separation of {sup 6}He and tritons from {sup 4}He. The statistics were adequate to extract the {sup 6}He/{sup 4}He yield ratio. For both {sup 4}He and {sup 6}He, an excess in the yield (as compared to a Gaussian shape) was observed at energies below 9 MeV. The measured ternary {alpha} spectrum was corrected for the distortion induced by the detection geometry covering equatorial particle emission only. The emission angle was found to affect mainly the width of the energy distribution by up to 1 MeV.