= Fission barrier
The increase in a nucleus's collective deformation <potential energy> between a local minimum and a saddle on a path toward separated fragments. A positive final-state <Q value> does not remove this intermediate barrier. A nucleus can cross it after sufficient <excitation energy>, or undergo <quantum tunnelling>. The relevant barrier for neutron-induced fission belongs to the compound nucleus formed after capture, not automatically to the target before capture.
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