Time‐integrated energy domain measurements with synchrotron radiation

A new time integrated method for the study of resonant nuclear scattering of synchrotron radiation in the forward direction or in Bragg directions is introduced. This method gives in principle similar information as the well known time differential method. A brief comparison of both methods is presented. The idea is to excite coherently the nuclei incorporated in two absorbers, one moving with respect to the other. The fields radiated by the nuclei from both absorbers interfere and each time the nuclear energy in one absorber matches, by Doppler modulation, the nuclear energy of the other, an extremum in the time integrated intensity is observed. The results of the first experiments at the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory will be presented. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Controlling absorption of gamma radiation via nuclear level anticrossing

A significant reduction of absorption for single gamma photons has been experimentally observed by studying M?ssbauer spectra of 57Fe in a FeCO3 crystal. The experimental results have been explained in terms of a quantum interference effect involving nuclear level anticrossing due to the presence of a combined magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole interaction.     

Quadrupole moment of the 11(-) intruder isomer in 196Pb and its implications for the 16(-) shears band head

The quadrupole moment of the 11(-) isomer in 196Pb has been measured by the level mixing spectroscopy method. This state has a pi(3s(-2)(1/2)1h(9/2)1i(13/2))11(-) configuration which is involved in most of the shears band heads in the Pb region. The first directly measured value of Q(s)(11(-)) = (-)3.41(66) b, coupled to the previously known quadrupole moment of the nu(1i(-2)(13/2))12(+) isomer allows us to estimate the quadrupole moment of the 16(-) shears band head as Q(s)(16(-)) = -0.32(10) b. The experimental values are compared to tilted axis cranking calculations, giving insight into the validity of the additivity approach to couple quadrupole moments and on the amount of deformation in the shears bands.     

Study of 19Na at SPIRAL

The excitation function for the elastic-scattering reaction p( ¹⁸Ne, p) ¹⁸Ne was measured with the first radioactive beam from the SPIRAL facility at the GANIL laboratory and with a solid cryogenic hydrogen target. Several broad resonances have been observed, corresponding to new excited states in the unbound nucleus ¹⁹Na. In addition, two-proton emission events have been identified and are discussed.     

LMR quadrupole interaction measurement on69mGe and71mGe in Zn

A new experimental set-up to perform in-beam LMR (Level Mixing Resonance) measurements is briefly outlined. The first results are reported here. The quadrupole interaction of^69mGeZn is measured and in good agreement with earlier measurements:v _Q=80.6(4) MHz; for^71mGeZn, the valuev _Q=33.1(30)MHz is found. In addition, the relaxation behaviour and radiation damage of Ge recoil implanted in Zn is studied.     

Quadrupole and magnetic moment measurements on spin-aligned projectile fragments

The Level Mixing Resonance (LMR) technique allows to determine ground-state nuclear moments by measuring the spin-polarization of the betaddecay, and starting from an initially aligned ensemble of nuclei. Using this new technique, the ratio of the quadrupole frequency to the magnetic moment of the neutron rich¹⁸N ground state has been measured: $\nu _Q /\mu (^{18} N\underline {Mg} ) = 1328(33)$ kHz/n.m. In order to measure the nuclear moments independently, the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and LMR techniques will be combined.     

First results from the CRIS experiment

The ability to study rare isotopes with techniques such as mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy is often prevented by low production rates and large isobaric contamination. This has necessitated the development of novel beam cleaning techniques that can efficiently isolate the isotope of interest. The Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment at ISOLDE, achieves this by resonantly ionizing a bunched atom beam in a region of ultra high vacuum. This method is motivated by the need to measure the hyperfine structure and isotope shift at the extremes of isospin where typical production rates drop to 1 atom/s. The technique also offers the ability to purify an ion beam and even select long-lived isomeric states (> 1 ms) from the ground state, which can be subsequently studied by decay spectroscopy or mass spectrometry experiments. This paper will report on the successful commissioning of the CRIS beam line and the recent laser spectroscopy results and laser assisted nuclear decay spectroscopy on the neutron deficient francium isotopes.     

In-beam quadrupole interaction measurements by level mixing resonance

A new method to measure the quadrupole interaction of in-beam produced isomeric nuclear states is proposed. A simplified version of the theory, adapted to the particular experimental configuration of an in-beam experiment is described.