On-line nuclear orientation of Au isotopes at KOOL

On-line low temperature nuclear orientation measurements were performed on shortlived¹⁸⁵Au,¹⁸⁶Au,^189mAu,^191mHg implanted in an iron matrix. As decay products¹⁸⁵IrFe and^191mAuFe were studied too. Besides magnetic moment determinations spectroscopic information on spin values of excited levels and mixing ratios of transitions in the daughter nuclei Pt and Au are presented. The results are interpreted in a Nilsson + Coriolis + pairing model.     

On-line nuclear orientation at KOOL

Since the previous conference we extended our series of on-line -anisotropy measurements in the Z=50 and Z=82 region leading a.o. to the identification of the phase transition in the Au isotopes. Besides conventional on-line low temperature nuclear orientation, we introduced the first on-line applications of NMR/ON, on-line -anisotropy measurements and -decay asymmetry experiments. The intriguing information from these new developments both in the field of nuclear structure and solid state physics is briefly discussed.     

On-line nuclear orientation of70As

On-line nuclear orientation was performed on⁷⁰As. Anisotropy data have been obtained at 8.7mK for 29 gamma transitions. Multipole mixing ratios have been extracted for 17 transitions. Our results are in good agreement with existing data for the ten previously measured transitions. Our first time data for the 1496 keV, 2⁺→2⁺ γ-ray suggest the 2536 keV level is a good candidate for a mixed symmetry level.     

On-line nuclear orientation of odd-odd120I

The use of Low Temperature Nuclear Orientation (LTNO) in nuclear structure studies is discussed. LTNO has been employed, together with γ-γ and e-γ spectroscopy, to study the nuclear structure of¹²⁰Te following the beta decay of¹²⁰ I ^g . The strengths and limitations of LTNO as a probe of nuclear structure are discussed with particular reference to this experiment.     

On-line nuclear orientation and relaxation studies of Cs isotopes

The hyperfine field of CsFe has been measured to be (+)40.8(0.7)T, using the technique of on-line low temperature nuclear orientation. The time dependent relaxation of¹²¹Cs^m Fe has also been investigated using a new technique, giving a Korringa constant C_k of 0.059 (15) sK. From this, an effective relaxation time of 3.0 (0.8)s can be deduced for the short lived¹¹⁸Cs^m(T_1/2=17s). This value has then been used to extract the magnetic moment of¹¹⁸Cs^m to be |μ|=5.4 (1.1) nm.     

Low-spin states of doubly odd 184Au

Low-spin states of ¹⁸⁴Au have been studied using the β⁺/EC decay of ¹⁸⁴Hg. γ-ray and conversion-electron singles spectra were recorded with ¹⁸⁴Hg mass-separated sources. For γ-γ-t and X-γ-t coincidence measurements, mercury nuclei were produced in the ¹⁴⁸Sm + ⁴⁰Ar reaction and transported by a He-jet system. The electron spectra were recorded from ¹⁸⁴Hg sources produced at ISOLDE. A level scheme of ¹⁸⁴Au including 48 transitions is proposed. The experimental results are interpreted in the frame of a semi-microscopic axial-rotor-plus-two-quasiparticle model developed in the context of the HF+BCS approximation.     

On-line nuclear orientation of the deformed neutron-deficient Eu,Sm and Pm isotopes

Low-temperature nuclear orientation measurements made on-line at the SERC Daresbury Laboratory on^142m Eu,^141m Sm, and¹⁴¹Pm, with known magnetic dipole moments, have yielded the magnitude of the hyperfine fields of these isotopes in an iron host lattice. Thus measurements for the isotopes^{139, 138}Eu,^139m Sm, and¹³⁸Pm yielded values for the respective magnetic moments. Limits on the thermal relaxation times of Eu and Sm isotopes in Fe were also deduced. The results for¹³⁸Eu appear to contradict the earlier πh_11/2⊗νh_11/2 ground-state configuration assignment.     

On-line orientation of bromine isotopes

Assignments for the principal Nilsson configuration in light β⁺-decaying bromine isotopes were proposed in a contribution to the OLNO-1 conference. These assignments were made on the basis of magnetic moments derived from the temperature dependence of anisotropies in daughter Se isotopes observed in the DOLIS-COLD facility at Daresbury. Anisotropy measurements have since been extended to a lower base temperature in^74m Br and^72g Br decay, leading to more stringent limits on the ground state moment of⁷²Br. The proposed π[312]3/2 configuration for⁷⁵Br has also now been confirmed by a measurement of the sign of its magnetic moment. This was done by observing the β-asymmetry in⁷⁵Br decay using high purity Si detectors mounted within the dilution refrigerator.     

Spin echo and nuclear orientation study of metallic glasses

Hyperfine fields on Co nuclei in amorphous as-quenched and heat-treated Co₇₅Fe₅B₂₀ samples were studied by conventional NMR and by very low temperature nuclear orientation techniques. The Co spin echo measurement at 1.4 K yielded broad spectra between 130 – 260 MHz, with narrow maxima at 145.5 MHz and 155.1 MHz for as-quenched sample and with a broad maximum at 227 MHz for heat-treated sample well below the recrystallization point. The⁶⁰Co nuclear orientation measurements gave the mean value of hyperfine field B_hf15 T nearly independent of the sample heat-treatment. The spin-lattice relaxation was studied by pulse NMR and also by nuclear orientation thermal cycling technique.     

Observation of strongly deformed ground-state configurations in184Au and183Au by laser spectroscopy

Resonance ionization mass spectroscopy (RIMS) and pulsed-laser induced desorption (PLID) have been combined in order to study the isotope shift (IS) and hyperfine structure (HFS) of¹⁸⁴Au (T_1/2=53 s) and¹⁸³Au (T_1/2=42 s) in the 6s²S_1/2 → 6p²P_1/2 (λ=267 nm) transition. The Au isotopes were obtained as daughters in the decay of^184,183Hg produced and mass separated at the new ISOLDE-3 facility at CERN. It was found that the strong deformationβ ₂}-0.25 setting in at¹⁸⁶Au persists down to¹⁸³Au.     

Nuclear orientation of183Re and184Re in iron

The temperature dependence of the anisotropy of γ-rays from the decay of oriented¹⁸³,¹⁸⁴Re nuclei situated in an iron matrix was measured between 14 and 33 mK. Magnetic hyperfine splitting constants ofgH _HF=5.04(9) × 10^?18 erg andgH _HF=3.21 (13) × 10^?18 erg were determined for the groundstates of¹⁸³Re and¹⁸⁴Re, respectively. With the previously known hyperfinefield of ?760(15) kG for Re in iron the followingg-factors were deduced:¹⁸³Reg=1.32 (5) and¹⁸⁴Reg=0.84 (5). The E2/M1 mixing ratio of the 793 keV 2⁺ ?2⁺ transition in¹⁸⁴W was accurately determined to δ (793 keV)=+16.65 (85).     

Time-resolved and time-integral on-line nuclear orientation measurements of neutron-deficient Hg−Au−Pt−Ir nuclei

The methods of time-resolved and time-integral on-line nuclear orientation have been applied to study short lived nuclei with the NICOLE facility (Nuclear Implantation into Cold On-Line Equipment) at ISOLDE-3 in CERN using beams of^182–186Hg. The half-lives in these decay chains are of the order of seconds and therefore comparable to the spin-lattice relaxation times of the nuclei in iron. As the relaxation rate depends strongly on the g-factor, g-factors of nuclei in the decay chains can be deduced from the observation of the time evolution of γ-ray anisotropy. Using this technique the existence of an isomer in¹⁸⁴Au has been found and the g-factors of¹⁸⁴Au,^184mAu and¹⁸²Au have been determined. Accurate half-lives have been extracted from the data. Time-integral nuclear orientation has been observed for short lived as well as longer lived isotopes of the Hg decay chains. From these measurements, after proper correction for incomplete relaxation, the magnetic moments of^183mPt,¹⁸³Ir and¹⁸²Ir have been derived. The applicability of the time-resolved nuclear orientation technique for nuclei far from stability and its possible limitations is discussed.     

On-line monitoring of Au nanoparticles formation by optical spectroscopy

X-Ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism experiments have been conducted on a vanadium inorganic salt and a vanadium enamino-ketone complex. Measurements at the K edge of oxygen and nitrogen reveal the amount of magnetic moment transferred in the 2p orbitals of the ligand atoms from the magnetic V ion. Measurements at the L edge of vanadium show that the orbital moment is small and that J = L + S, contrary to the expected J = L-S coupling for a 3d metal with less than five d-electrons. This surprising inobservance of Hunds third rule emphasizes the need for more detailed studies and calculations on such hybrid molecules.Received: 19 November 2003, Published online: 20 April 2004PACS: 75.20.-g Diamagnetism, paramagnetism, and superparamagnetism - 75.70.Ak Magnetic properties of monolayers and thin films - 78.70.Dm X-ray absorption spectra     

Relaxation phenomena in nuclear orientation

A survey is given of relaxation phenomena relevant to nuclear orientation at temperatures below 1 K. Relaxation mechanisms, time dependence of the angular distribution of nuclear radiation and experimental methods for relaxation measurements are reviewed. Finally, some open questions related to simultaneous influence of rf fields and relaxation, the existence of a spin temperature and the role of domain walls are discussed shortly.