Coulomb proximity decay: A clock for measuring the particle emission time scale

A new method to examine the time scale of particle emission from hot nuclei is explored. Excited projectile-like and target-like fragments decay as they separate following a peripheral heavy-ion collision. Their mutual Coulomb influence results in an anisotropic angular distribution of emitted particles, providing a measure of the particle emission time scale. Predictions of a schematic evaporation model are presented and compared to experimental data.