Intermediate mass fragment emission in heavy-ion collisions: Energy and system mass dependence - art. no. 027602

Emission of intermediate mass fragments (IMFs) (Z greater than or equal to3 ) from central collisions of Ar-40+Sc-45 (E/A = 35-115 MeV), Ni-58+Ni-58 (E /A = 35-105 MeV), and Kr-86+Nb-93 (E/A = 35-95 MeV) was studied. For each s ystem, the average number of IMFs per event increased with beam energy, rea ched a maximum, and then decreased. The beam energy of peak IMF production increased linearly with the combined mass of the system. The number of IMFs emitted at the peak also increased with the system mass. Percolation calcu lations showed a weaker dependence of the peak beam energy and the number o f IMFs on the total mass of the system.