Proton states in the N = 88 nuclei 149Pm, 151Eu and 153Tb populated in the (τ, d) and (α, t) reactions

The (τ, d) and (α, t) reaction on targets of ¹⁴⁸Nd, ¹⁵⁰Sm and ¹⁵²Gd have been studied, using beams of 24 MeV ³He and 27 MeV ⁴He from the McMaster University FN tandem Van de Graaff accelerator. The reaction products were analyzed with a magnetic spectrograph and detected with photographic emulsions. The (α, t) spectra were measured at two angles for each target, and the (τ, d) reactions were studied at 8 or 9 angles. The l-values for a number of low-spin states were determined from the (τ, d) angular distributions, and ratios of the (α, t) and (τ, d) cross sections were used to obtain l-values for several other states. There are some striking similarities in the observed structures of the three final nuclei, ¹⁴⁹Pm, ¹⁵¹Eu and ¹⁵³Tb. In each case there are low-lying strongly populated $\text{11}\text{2}$^? states and a higher lying l = 5 level somewhat below 1 MeV of excitation energy. Several states (10 in ¹⁴⁹Pm, 17 in ¹⁵¹Eu and 8 in ¹⁵³Tb) appear to be populated via l = 2 transitions, and there are strongly excited $\text{1}\text{2}$⁺ levels at $\text{≧ 1}\text{MeV}$ of excitation energy in each case. Of particular interest is a $\text{7}\text{2}$^? state located ≦ 50 keV above the lowest $\text{11}\text{2}$^? state in each nuclide. The relatively strong populations of these $\text{7}\text{2}$^? levels in the present experiments are contrary to expectations based on the simple shell model as there are no f_{$\text{7}\text{2}$} states in the 50 < Z < 82 shell.     

The 27Al(t,p)29Al reaction at Et = 15 MeV

The ²⁷Al(t, p)²⁹Al reaction was studied at an incident energy of E_t = 15 MeV. Proton angular distributions were measured for the first 23 low-lying states. Comparisons of the data to DWBA calculations based on cluster-model and pure-configuration form factors were made which provided decompositions of the angular distributions into contributing L-values. Comparisons were also made to DWBA predictions based on microscopic amplitudes from a complete, sd-basis shell-model calculation.     

A study of the (n, α) reactions induced by 18 MeV neutrons in 151Eu, 151Eu, 159Tb, 16SHo and 169Tm

The energy spectra of α-particles emitted in the ${}^{151}\text{Eu(n}\text{, α)}{}^{148}\text{Pm}\text{,}{}^{153}\text{Eu(n}\text{, α)}{}^{150}\text{Pm}\text{,}{}^{159}\text{Tb(n}\text{, α)}{}^{156}\text{Eu}\text{,}{}^{165}\text{Ho(n}\text{, a)}{}^{162}\text{Tb and}{}^{169}\text{Tm(n}\text{, α)}{}^{166}\text{Ho}$ reactions have been measured at a neutron energy of 18.15 MeV. For the ${}^{165}\text{Ho(n}\text{, α)}{}^{162}\text{Tb}$ reaction the α-particle angular distribution has been measured as well. The results have been analysed in terms of statistical, pre-equilibrium and knock-on models.     

Evidence for a strongly deformed prolate shape at N = 87 from 154Eu and 152Eu(p,t) reactions

The (p, t) reaction on radioactive targets of ^152,154Eu has been used to study rotational states associated with the configuration in the transitional odd-odd ¹⁵²Eu and ¹⁵⁰Eu nuclei. Our studies yieldcompelling evidence that this configuration in ¹⁵⁰Eu has a prolate structure which is strongly deformed and occurs at excitation energy of 1224 keV.     

A study of particle-vibration multiplets in 203Tl using the 205Tl(p,t)203Tl, 208Pb(p,t)206Pb and 206Pb(p,t)204Pb reactions

The ²⁰⁵Tl(p, t)²⁰³Tl reaction has been used at 26.2 MeV to obtain additional information on the particle-vibration multiplets in ²⁰³Tl. Enhancement factors for the L = 0 and L = 2 transitions to the lower excited states of ²⁰³Tl were well accounted for by using enhancement factors from the ²⁰⁶Pb(p, t)²⁰⁴Pb reaction and the wave functions from the intermediate coupling calculations of Covello and Sartoris. Additional data on the ²⁰⁸Pb(p, t)²⁰⁶Pb reaction at 26.2 MeV were used along with data at other energies to examine the energy dependence of the zero-range enhancement factors.     

Experimental and shell-model studies of the reactions 91Zr(d,p)92Zr and 90Zr(t,p)92Zr

The results of high-resolution studies of the ⁹¹Zr(d, p) reaction at E_d = 12 MeV and the ⁹⁰Zr(t, p) reaction at E_t = 11.85 MeV are presented. Absolute cross sections have been measured for both reactions and (d, p) spectroscopic factors determined. A comparison of these results with earlier data has been made, and although many of the previous assignments have been confirmed, many new features concerning the structure of ⁹²Zr have been discovered. Shell-model calculations have been performed for ⁹¹Zr and ⁹²Zr using a neutron space which includes the $\text{2}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>5</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, $\text{3}\text{s}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, $\text{2}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, $\text{1}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>7</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ and $\text{1}\text{h}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>11</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ orbits and a proton space comprising the $\text{1}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>9</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ and $\text{2}\text{p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ orbits. Realistic proton-neutron and neutron-neutron interactions based on the Sussex matrix elements were used in the calculations. Spectroscopic factors have been calculated for the ⁹⁰Zr(d, p) and ⁹¹Zr(d, p) reactions and cross sections calculated for the ⁹⁰Zr(t, p) reaction. In general, good agreement between the theoretical and the experimental results has been obtained.     

The reaction 67Zn(t, α)66Cu

Levels of ⁶⁶Cu have been studied using the (t, α) reaction on ⁶⁷Zn at 18 MeV. Orbital and, in some cases, total angular momentum transfer were inferred from a comparison of differential cross sections with those measured for the same reaction on the even zinc isotopes. The quartet of levels corresponding to the p_{$\text{3}\text{2}$} proton pick-up from the $\text{5}\text{2}$^? target was identified. In addition, a strong set of l = 3 transitions was found corresponding to pickup from the f_{$\text{7}\text{2}$} proton shell.     

The (nth, α) reaction on 147Sm, 151, 153Eu and Yb isotopes

The (n, α) reaction has been studied using the highly pure thermal neutron beam from the 87m curved neutron guide at the Grenoble high flux reactor. The ¹⁴⁷Sm(n, α)¹⁴⁴Nd reaction showed up five lines corresponding to the ground and the first four excited states of the final nucleus. It is shown that ≈53 % of the 581 μb (n, α) cross section comes from the neutron capture by a bound level of the ¹⁴⁸Sm compound nucleus. The 8.7 ± 3 μb cross section of ¹⁵¹Eu(n, α)¹⁴⁸Pm seems to consist principally of at least two lines corresponding to the ground and the second excited states of ¹⁴⁸Pm. The ¹⁵³Eu(n, α)¹⁴⁹Pm cross section for thermal neutrons is ≦ 1 μb. The lower limits of (n, α) thermal neutron cross section values on ytterbium isotopes are ≈ 20 to 40 times lower than the published data.     

High resolution investigation of 91Mo and 92Mo via (p,d) and (p,t) reactions on 90Mo

The (p, d) and (p, t) reactions on ⁹²Mo have been studied at a proton energy of 28.0 MeV. Using an Enge split-pole spectrograph, resolutions of 11–15 keV for the detected deuterons and tritons were obtained. A total of 87 levels up to 4.9 MeV in ⁹¹Mo and 25 levels up to 4.0 MeV in ⁹⁰Mo were found, several of which were previously unknown. By comparing the measured angular distributions with DWBA calculations l-values and spectroscopic factors were determined. The results are compared with data from previous experiments on ⁹¹Mo and ⁹⁰Mo, with experiments on other N = 49 and 48 nuclei, and with theoretical calculations.     

Energy levels of 94Ru observed with the 96Ru(p,t) reaction

The level structure of the neutron-magic nucleus ⁹⁴Ru, up to an excitation energy of 4 MeV, has been studied by means of the (p, t) reaction. Particular emphasis was placed on a search for excited 0⁺ levels, none of which have been reported previously. Among new levels observed in this study are 0⁺ levels at 2.995, 3.615 and 3.770 MeV, and the 3^? octupole vibration at 2.965 MeV.     

Spectroscopy of A = 16 from 13C(6Li,t)16O

The ¹³C(⁶Li, t)¹⁶O reaction has been studied at 34 MeV. Selective population of narrow states is observed up to 21 MeV excitation in ¹⁶O. This reaction populates strongly both unnatural-and natural-parity states that have little or no ¹²C + α₀ width. The measured angular distributions are compared with Hauser-Feshbach and finite-range DWBA calculations. Reasonable agreement with the DWBA calculations is found for most of the states strongly populated. The widths of the narrow states populated in the 16–20 MeV excitation region are presented. Comparison of the present data with that from medium-energy inelastic scattering and other multiparticle transfer reactions is made.     

(p, γ) reaction studies on 60Ni

The γ-ray spectra from the ⁶⁰Ni(p, γ)⁶¹Cu reaction were measured for 27 isolated resonances. From these studies the J^π assignment of the compound states in ⁶¹Cu were made. Moreover, a value for the El photon strength function k(El) = 1.03 × 10^?9 MeV^?3 was obtained from seven l = 0 resonances to the 16 low-lying states. This value was then compared with the theoretical estimates of El strengths as predicted from the s.p. and giant dipole resonance models. The distribution of partial radiative widths about their mean value was determined from a Monte Carlo technique and was found to be consistent with the Porter-Thomas distribution when the Γ_{γ, ij} were divided by the E_γ⁵ energy dependence.Values for the coefficients of the correlation R between Γ_{λ, p} and Γ_{λ, γj} and T between Γ_{λ, yj} and $\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{\lambda ,\; \gamma ?}}$ where f ≠ j, were computed with the values R = 0.14 and T = 0.39, respectively. Also the correlation coefficients C(〈 Γ_{λ, yj}〉, I₃He, d, j) and $\text{C(〈Γ}{}_{\mathrm{\lambda ,\; y?}}\text{〉 I}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>d,\; n</mtext><mtext>,\; ?</mtext>}}\text{)}$ yielded the values ρ = 0.87 and ρ = 0.80 respectively. All these correlations which are found to be statistically significant, imply that the (p, γ) reaction in ⁶⁰Ni is partly due to direct capture such as given by valence and doorway state contributions.     

Isomers in the N = 83 nucleus 149Dy

Energy levels in the N = 83 nucleus ¹⁴⁹Dy were studied by the reaction ¹⁵²Gd(α, 7n) at 106 MeV bombarding energy using in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy methods. The measurements identified three isomers in this nucleus, at 1073 keV (13 ± 3 ns), at 2700±150keV (5 μs < T_{$\text{1}\text{2}$} < 0.5 s), and above 3.5 MeV (50 ± 15 ns). The low-lying isomer is interpreted as i_{$\text{13}\text{2}$}. The configuration $\text{27}\text{2}$^?(πh_{$\text{11}\text{2}$}²)₁₀₊ ×vf_{$\text{7}\text{2}$} is suggested for the state at 2.7 MeV.     

The (t, α) reaction on 121Sb and 123Sb

Angular distributions of α-particles from the (t, α) reaction on ¹²¹Sb and ¹²³Sb have been measured for incident tritons of 12 MeV. Levels up to excitation energies of 5.2 and 4.9 MeV in ¹²⁰Sn and ¹²²Sn, respectively, have been identified and analysed by the DWBA. Values of orbital angular momenta of the transferred protons have been assigned and spectroscopic factors deduced for all strongly excited levels. The extracted ground-state wave functions of the target nuclei have been compared with the calculated ones. A mixture of collective degrees of freedom is present in the low-lying states, weakly excited by the above very selective proton pick-up reaction. These states are populated by the pick-up of external protons (outer shells). At higher excitation energy (between 4 and 5 MeV) there are many strongly excited states populated by the proton pick-up from the Z = 50 proton core (inner shells); a predominantly 1p-1h character has been assigned to these states.     

A study of the 90Zr(6Li, 6He)90Nb reaction at E6Li = 93 MeV

The energy spectra of ⁶He nuclei from the ⁹⁰Zr(⁶Li, ⁶He) reaction at E_{⁶Li = 93 MeV} have been measured over the angular range of 7 ° ? θ_lab ? 20 °. The theoretical DWBA analysis of these spectra and angular distributions was performed employing transition densities of bound and resonance states obtained on the basis of the theory of finite Fermi systems. It is shown that up to excitation energies of E_x ≈ 10 MeV in ⁹⁰Nb a direct charge-exchange mechanism dominates in this reaction, while at higher E_x the contribution made by multistep processes increases significantly. It is also shown that the quasi-elastic cross section is determined by a sum of partial contributions of spin-isospin-flip transitions with multipolarities L=0 through L=6.     

Levels of 41Sc from the 40Ca(p,p)40Ca reaction

Excitation functions have been measured for ⁴⁰Ca(p, p)⁴⁰Ca, in the energy range from E_p = 2.35 to 4.85 MeV at four angles. The R-matrix formalism for multilevel cross sections was used to analyse the data; spins, parities, proton widths and reduced widths were extracted for thirty levels. Several new spin values have been deduced. A detailed comparison of the levels in the mirror system ⁴¹Ca?⁴¹Sc is given.     

Fluctuations in 88Sr(p,p0) and 90Zr(p,p′) in the energy region from 12 MeV TO 13 MeV

The low cross sections in the diffraction minima of elastic proton scattering at 12.5 MeV incident energy and far backward scattering angles for target nuclei with mass numbers A of about 90 were used to investigate compound nucleus effects in the framework of the statistical model. In the case of ⁹⁰Zr(p, p′) energy averaged T^< fluctuations are observed, while in the case of ⁸⁸Sr(p, p₀) resolved structures with a coherence width of Γ = 22 keV are found, which is assumed to be the coherence width Γ^> of overlapping T^> states.     

Resonances in the reaction 56Fe(p, γ)57Co

Resonances in the reaction ⁵⁶Fe(p, γ)⁵⁷Co have been surveyed over the energy range 1.2 ? E_p ? 1.5 MeV wherein the analogues of the ground state $\text{(J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{, 0.014}\text{MeV}$ state $\text{(J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)}$ and 0.136 MeV state $\text{(J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)}$ of ⁵⁷Fe are expected to occur. Gamma-ray angular distributions have been used to establish resonance and bound-state spins, and decay schemes have been determined. The analogue resonances appear to be severely fragmented, however the density of resonances of a given spin correlates quite well with (³He, d) results and with the expected analogue-state positions.     

A study of the 86Sr(3He,t)86Y reaction

Low-lying levels of ⁸⁶Y have been investigated using the ⁸⁶Sr(³He, t) reaction at 42.8 MeV. J^π values or limits were assigned to 20 of the 23 levels observed below 1.5 MeV through the use of collective DWBA calculations or experimental (³He, t) reaction systematics. The particle-hole structure of ⁸⁶Y is discussed on the basis of these data and the shell model.     

A new 5.0 ns isomer in 144Eu

A new 9^? isomeric state having a 5.0 ns half-life has been observed in ¹⁴⁴Eu following the ¹⁴⁴Sm(α, p3n) reactions at 50 MeV. The new isomer most likely has a $\text{(π}\text{g}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>7</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{v}\text{h}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>11</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}{}_9{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ configuration.