Abstract:The angular distributions of sequential fission fragments have been measured for the reactions of 40 Ar with ~97AU and 23 8 u as a function of reaction Qvalue and charge transfer. These angular distributions are used to study the an6ular momentum and alignment of the deep-inelastic products which undergo fission. All of the fission fragment angular distributions are strongly focused into the plane defined by the beam and the projectile-liKe fragment velocity vectors. The in-plane angular distributions from reactions with uranium are isotropic for small energy losses and become anisotropic as the energy loss increases. For large negative Q-values, the in-plane anisotropy increases as the deep-inelastic products become more symmetric. The variation of the in-plane anisotropy with mass asymmetry for the two systems in this worK was compared to a compilation of previous work and a consistent pattern was found. These alignment data are compared to equilibrium statistical calculations.NUCLEAR REACTIONS: 197 AU , 238 u 40 Ar , HI f) Ea 340 MeV; measured sequential fission angular distributions ~(e,~), in-plane and out-of-plane. Angular distribution functions, deduced spin transfer, spin alignment. Systematics of previous work. Equilibrium statistical model.