Two deformation paths in fission of light actinides

The correlation among the fission threshold energy, the scission configurat ion and the mass yield distribution has been studied in proton-induced fiss ion of light actinides. It was found that there exist at least two fission paths from the threshold region to the scission. The elongated scission con figuration is related with the fission process that goes over a higher thre shold energy and results in a symmetric mass division mode, while the compa ct scission configuration with the process that experiences a lower thresho ld and ends up with an asymmetric mass division mode.