photodisintegration

photodisintegration, in physics, nuclear reaction in which the absorption of high-energy electromagnetic radiation (a gamma-ray photon) causes the absorbing nucleus to change to another species by ejecting a subatomic particle, such as a proton, neutron, or alpha particle. For example, magnesium-25, upon absorbing a photon of sufficient energy, emits a proton and becomes sodium-24. Photodisintegration differs from the nuclear reaction photofission, in which a nucleus, upon absorbing a photon, splits into two fragments of nearly equal mass.