Continuous gamma radiation feeding high-spin isomers in 148, 149, 151, 152Dy and 147Gd

The energy, multipolarity and multiplicity spectra of the continuum gamma radiation feeding high-spin isomers in ^{148, 149, 151, 152}Dy and ¹⁴⁷Gd have been measured at several bombarding energies. The final nuclei were selected via a delayed coincidence technique while the use of a NaI(Tl) Compton shielded crystal allowed the primary gamma-ray spectra to be generated reliably from the observed spectra.It was found that: (i) the energy of both the gamma-ray statistical cascade and the neutron cascade increases with increasing excitation energy, the latter much more rapidly than expected; (ii) the multiplicity of gamma-ray cascades, in which a statistical transition was detected, is generally lower than that of the average cascade; (iii) stretched E2 spin-correlated transitions occur above $\text{J? 39}\text{h}\text{?}\text{in}{}^{152}\text{Dy}$ and above $\text{～ 50.5}\text{h}\text{?}\text{in}{}^{147}\text{Gd}$, indicating the onset of collectivity at these spins — in addition, a region of predominantly dipole emitting states is located below $\text{T? 44}\text{h}\text{?}\text{in}{}^{147}\text{Gd}$; (iv) effective moments of inertia derived from the bump edge are 50–100% larger than those deduced from the density of stretched E2 transitions in the bump; (v) in ^149,151Dy the bump edge is very sharp but no multiplicity features are observed; (vi) although the four Dy isotopes were populated at approximately the same excitation energy, they display considerable differences in their continuum properties.Probable interpretations of these observations are discussed, in particular we have suggested that several of the observed effects are consistent with the possible presence of high-K collective bands above the yrast line.     

High spin rotational states in 154Dy, 164Er And 162Yb

High spin rotational states in ¹⁵⁴Dy, ¹⁶⁴Er and ¹⁶²Yb have been investigated with (α, 4nγ) and (α, 6nγ) reactions. The ground state rotational bands have been identified up to spin 14 for ¹⁵⁴Dy and ¹⁶²Yb and spin 16 for ¹⁶⁴Er. Anomalous behaviour of the moment of inertia has been observed in ¹⁶⁴Er.     

Measurement of lifetimes for high spin states in 152Sm, 154Gd and 156Gd by the Doppler broadened lineshape method

Lifetimes of the ground band levels up to spin 10⁺ in ¹⁵²Sm, ¹⁵⁴Gd and ¹⁵⁶Gd have been measured by the Doppler broadened lineshape (DBLS) analysis of peaks observed following Coulomb excitation of enriched metallic targsts by 132–143 MeV ³⁵Cl beams. The γ-ray lineshapes were measured in time coincidence with backscattered ions and were analyzed with a computer program incorporating tabulated electronic stopping powers. The nuclear stopping power of Lindhard et al and multiple scattering treatment by Blaugrund were assumed. Renormalization of the electronic stopping powers given by Northclifie and Schilling was found necessary to reproduce the accurately known lifetime of the 6⁺ state in ¹⁵²Sm. Stopping powers for Sm in Sm inferred from the tabulated ⁴He stopping power of Ziegler and Chu support this renormalization. The stretching parameter a derived from the lifetimes of the ground band are (2.0 ± 0.6) × 10^?3, (1.85 ± 0.40) × 10^?3 and (0.0 ± 0.45) × 10^?3, in ¹⁵²Sm, ¹⁵⁴Gd and ¹⁵⁶Gd, respectively.     

Yrast and high-spin states in 22Ne

High-spin states in ²²Ne have been investigated by the reactions ¹¹B(¹³C, d)²²Ne and ¹³(¹¹B, d)²²Ne up to $\text{E}{}^1\text{～- 19}\text{MeV}$. Yrast states were observed at 11.02 MeV (8⁺) and 15.46 MeV (10⁺) excitation energy. A backbending in ²²Ne is observed around spin 8⁺. The location of high-spin states I ≦ 10 is discussed in terms of the rotational band structure, Strutinsky-type calculations, and pure shell-model predictions.     

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.     

Collective and two-quasiparticle states in 158Gd observed through study of radiative neutron capture in 157Gd

The level structure of ¹⁵⁸Gd has been studied using the prompt γ-rays and conversion electrons emitted following neutron capture in ¹⁵⁷Gd. The γ-ray energy and intensity measurements were made using both Ge(Li) detectors and a curved-crystal spectrometer. Conversion-electron energy and intensity measurements were made using two separate magnetic spectrometers: one to measure the primary electron spectrum and the other to measure the lower energy secondary electron spectrum. Some γ-γ coincidence measurements were also made among the secondary γ-rays. From these data, a neutron separation energy of 7937.1 ± 0.5 keV has been determined for ¹⁵⁸Gd. A level scheme containing 59 excited states with energies < 2.25 MeV, for which de-excitation modes have been identified, is proposed for ¹⁵⁸Gd. Many of these states have been grouped into rotational bands. A total of thirteen excited rotational bands with band-head energies below 2.0 MeV are contained in the level scheme. Features of the proposed level scheme include: the K^π = 0^?, 1^? and 2^? octupole-vibrational bands with band-head energies of 1263, 977 and 1793 keV, respectively; the γ-vibrational band at 1187 keV; three excited K^π = 0⁺ bands with band-head energies of 1196, 1452 and 1743 keV; several two-quasiparticle bands with band-head energies in keV (and K^π assignments) of 1380 (4⁺), 1636 (4^?), 1847 (1⁺), 1856 (1^?), 1920 (4⁺) and 1930 (1⁺). An analysis of (d, p) reaction data is presented which permits definite two-quasiparticle configuration assignments to be made to most of these latter bands. Evidence is presented which suggests strong mixing of some two-neutron and two-proton bands. A phenomenological four-band mixing analysis is made of the energy and E2 transition-probability data for the ground-state band and the three lowest-lying excited collective positive-parity bands. Good agreement with experiment is obtained. A Coriolis-mixing analysis of the octupole bands has been carried out and good agreement with the data on level energies and E1 transition probabilities to the ground-state band has been achieved. Values of Z, the ratio of the E1 transition matrix element with ΔK = 1 to that with ΔK = 0, involving the octupole bands and the first four 0⁺ bands are derived. For three of these 0⁺ bands, absolute values of these matrix elements are deduced. An interesting alternation in the sign of Z is observed for these four 0⁺ bands.     

In-beam γ-ray studies of complex band structures and of isomeric states in 152, 153Dy nuclei

The high-spin level structures of ¹⁵²Dy and ¹⁵³Dy were studied experimentally with ^{154, 155}Gd(α xnγ) in-beam reactions, and for ¹⁵²Dy also with ${}^{\mathrm{144,\; 146}}\text{Nd}\text{(}{}^{12}\text{C, x}\text{n}\text{γ)}$ reactions. The experiments included measurements of singles γ-ray and conversion-electron spectra, γ-ray angular distributions and E_γ-t and E_γ-E_γ-t coincidences. A multiplicity filter set-up was used to study the feeding and decay of isomeric states in ¹⁵²Dy. In ¹⁵²Dy about twenty so far unknown levels were found, including two high-spin isomeric states with $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{≈ 60}\text{and}\text{≈ 13}\text{ns}$ at excitation energies E_x ≈ 5.04 and 6.08 MeV, respectively. These states are compared with recent calculations on yrast traps. The level scheme of ¹⁵³Dy contains 28 levels up to E_x = 4.1 MeV and $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{= (}\text{37}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)}$. Band structures in both nuclei are discussed in comparison with other N = 86 and N = 87 isotones.     

Yrast traps and high-spin states in 210Rn

Yrast and near-yrast states have been investigated in ²¹⁰Rn to high spin (J > 30) and high energy (E_x > 10 MeV). Three different (HI, xn) reactions were used to populate the states of interest and several different γ-ray spectroscopic techniques were utilized. Three high-spin yrast traps were discovered. Two de-excite by strong E3 transitions while the third decays mainly via an extremely inhibited E2 transition. The E3 decays are interpreted as allowed single-particle transitions between proton or neutron states above the ²⁰⁸Pb shell closure while the inhibited E2 transition is interpreted as indicating a substantial change in structure as the decay proceeds down the yrast line. The interpretation has been given in terms of shell-model calculations.     

Single-proton states in 151Pm

The ${}^{152}\text{Sm}\text{(}\text{t}\text{, α)}{}^{151}\text{Pm}$ reaction was studied using 17 MeV polarized tritons from the tandem Van de Graaff accelerator at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. The α-particles were analyzed using a Q3D magnetic spectrometer and detected with a helical-cathode position-sensitive counter. The overall resolution was ～ 18 keV FWHM. Measurements of the ¹⁵⁰Nd(³He, d)¹⁵¹Pm reaction were made using 24 MeV ³He beams from the McMaster University tandem accelerator. The deuteron spectra were analyzed with a magnetic spectrograph using photographic emulsions for detectors, yielding a resolution of ～ 13 keV FWHM. By comparing the measured angular distributions of ($\text{t}\text{, α}$) and (³He, d) cross sections and ($\text{t}\text{, α}$) analyzing powers with DWBA predictions it was possible to assign spins and parities to many levels. The present results confirm earlier assignments of rotational bands based on the low-lying $\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{[413],}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{[532],}\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{[411]}\text{and}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{[420]}$ orbitals. In addition, states at higher excitation have now been assigned to the $\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{[411]}\text{and}\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{[404]}$ orbitals, and members of the $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{[422],}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{[402],}\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{[541]}\text{and}\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{[523]}$ bands are tentatively proposed. The spectroscopic strengths can be explained reasonably well by the Nilsson model when pairing and Coriolis mixing effects are included.     

Feeding times of high-spin states in 152, 154Dy: Probes of nuclear structure above the yrast line

Measurements of feeding times of high-spin yrast states up to spin 30 ? in ¹⁵⁴Dy and 36 ? in ¹⁵² Dy were utilized to obtain information about possible spin-dependent shape changes. The reactions ²⁵Mg(¹³⁴Xe, 5n), ¹²⁴Sn(³⁴S, 4n) and ²⁵Mg(¹³²Xe, 5n), ¹²²Sn(³⁴S, 4n) were used to populate the high-spin states in ¹⁵⁴Dy and ¹⁵²Dy, respectively. Feeding times as well as lifetimes were determined with the recoil-distance technique. In ¹⁵²Dy only long feeding times (? 10 ps) could be identified, indicating that the aligned-particle yrast states are fed through configurations of similar character, with little direct population from collective cascades in the continuum region. In ¹⁵⁴Dy discrete states with I ? 30 ? have lifetimes which are characteristically collective, whereas the preyrast cascades exhibit both fast (?1 ps) and slow (～10 ps) feeding components. The latter imply a change with increasing spin from collective to aligned-particle character, probably associated with a prolate to oblate shape transition.     

Total α-widths of neutron resonances of 147Sm and 149Sm

An investigation of the (n, α) reaction on ¹⁴⁷Sm and ¹⁴⁹Sm isotopes was performed in the energy range from 0 up to 400 eV and to 100 eV, respectively, using a multisectional proportional chamber. Values for the total α-widths or their upper limits were obtained for about 90 resonances. A comparison has been drawn between the obtained average α-widths and those predicted by optical and cluster models. In the case of ¹⁴⁹Sm, for resonances with spin 4^? the total α-width distribution was observed to be much narrower than expected from statistical theory. We failed to find a correlation between neutron and total α-widths.     

Neutron alignment at high spin in 156Dy

Utilizing the transient magnetic field interaction for nuclear recoils passing through an iron or a gadolinium foil, we have measured the precessions for discrete γ-ray transitions in the reaction ²⁴Mg(¹³⁶Xe,4n)¹⁵⁶Dy at 600 and 620 MeV incident beam energy. The average nuclear g-factors deduced at spins between 19 and 23? are in accord with one previous measurement and in contradiction with another. The present results imply the predominant population of neutron-aligned bands near the backbend in ¹⁵⁶Dy.     

Neutron resonance parameters and radiative capture cross sections of 147Sm and 149Sm

Neutron capture and transmission measurements have been carried out on the separated isotopes of ¹⁴⁷Sm (98.34 %) and ¹⁴⁹Sm (97.72 %) at the 55 m time-of-flight station of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute electron linear accelerator. Resonance energies and neutron widths for a large number of resolved resonances were determined up to 2 keV for ¹⁴⁷Sm and 520 eV for ¹⁴⁹Sm. Radiation widths for 5 resonances in ¹⁴⁷Sm + n and 7 resonances in ¹⁴⁹Sm + n were derived. The s-wave strength functions, average level spacings and average radiation widths were obtained to be: $\text{10}{}^4\text{S}{}_0\text{= 4.8 ± 0.5,}\text{D}\text{= 5.7 ± 0.5}\text{eV}$ and $\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{\gamma }}\text{= 69 ± 2}\text{meV for}{}^{147}\text{Sm}$; a $\text{10}{}^4\text{S}{}_0\text{= 4.6 ± 0.6,}\text{D}\text{= 2.2 ± 0.2}\text{eV}$ and $\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{\gamma }}\text{= 62 ± 2}\text{meV for}{}^{149}\text{Sm}$. The average capture cr sections were deduced from 3.3 to 300 keV with an estimated accuracy of 5 to 15 %. The measured capture cross sections for ¹⁴⁹Sm are largely different from the evaluated data, which are obtained based on the statistical model calculation. Possible reasons for this disagreement are discussed.     

Neutron-hole strength distributions in heavy nuclei: (II). The 144, 148, 152Sm(3He, α) 143, 147, 151Sm and the 144, 148, 150, 152, 154Sm(p,d) 143, 147, 149, 151, 153Sm reactions

Valence and deep-lying neutron-hole strengths corresponding to orbits near and well below the Fermi surface have been observed in high-resolution studies of the ^{144, 148, 152}Sm(³He, α) and of the ^{144, 148, 150, 152, 154}Sm(p, d) reactions at 70 and 42 MeV bombarding energy, respectively. The explored excitation energy range was 28 MeV for the (³He, α) experiment and about 12 MeV in the (p, d) study. Complete angular distributions have been measured in both cases and the data was analyzed within the framework of the distorted waves Born approximation theory of direct reactions.For the neutron closed shell target (¹⁴⁴Sm), in addition to the well-known fragmentation of the 2d_{$\text{5}\text{2}$} and 1g_{$\text{7}\text{2}$} valence-hole strength, a new bump observed around 7.6 MeV excitation energy is excited in both reactions. This structure corresponds to the 1g_{$\text{9}\text{2}$} inner-hole strength in ¹⁴³Sm and the analysis of the (³He, α) data suggests that more than 50% of the l = 4 strength can be found between 6 and 12 MeV. When one goes to the heavier Sm isotopes, the energy spacing between valence-hole states located above and just below the N = 82 shell decreases strongly and disappears in ¹⁵¹Sm as a result of increasing deformation.Combining good energy resolution and detailed analysis of the two reactions, rather complete spectroscopic information is obtained for the valence-hole strength distributions. With regard to inner-hole states, the energy spectra exhibit a narrow structure whose centroid energy decreases from 4.4 to 2.9 MeV when the mass number increases from A = 147 to A = 153. The main peak displays an asymmetric shape with an extremely large high-energy tail. The 1h_{$\text{11}\text{2}$} hole strength is split into the Nilsson Orbitals. The narrow bumps are found to carry a large fraction of the l = 5 and l = 2 hole strengths in ^{147,149,151,152}Sm isotopes. In the high-energy tail of the structures one observes overlapping and increasing spreading of the g_{$\text{7}\text{2}$}, 2d_{$\text{5}\text{2}$} and possibly 1g_{$\text{9}\text{2}$} inner-hole strengths due to the disappearance of the N = 82 shell gap between N = 83 and N = 89 neutron numbers. The experimental hole strengths distributions are compared where possible to the predictions of the quasiparticle-phonon nuclear model or to the simple Nilsson model.     

High spin states in 74Se

Gamma-ray transitions from the bombardment of ⁶⁴Ni by ¹⁶O up to 81 Me V were studied in a variety of experiments. Four transitions in coincidence with four previously known transitions in ⁷⁴Se were discovered. Information on energies, angular distributions, intensities multiplicities and lifetimes is given for these transitions. Excitation functions for this and several other channels are presented. Statistical calculations are in satisfactory agreement with experiment.     

High spin states in 105Ag

High spin states in ¹⁰⁵Ag have been studied using the ¹⁰³Rh(α, 2nγ)¹⁰⁵Ag reaction. A collective band on the $\text{9}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ state at 53.2 keV and a negative parity band with spins ranging from $\text{15}\text{2}$ to $\text{27}\text{2}$ were observed. Furthermore a $\text{15}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ isomeric state with $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext><mtext>\; =\; 6.0\pm 0.2\; </mtext><mtext>ns</mtext>}}$ at 1733.8 keV was identified. The g-factor deduced for this state is g = 0.58±0.06. A comparison of the experimental results with theoretical calculations indicates that the properties of most of the positive parity states are reasonably well described by the cluster-vibrational model as well as by the triaxial rotator model.     

Yrast cascade in 60Ni

Yrast levels of ⁶⁰Ni were investigated via the study of in-beam γ-rays induced by 15–25 MeV α-partictes on ⁵⁸Ni, 26–48 MeV ¹²C ions on ⁵⁰Cr and 30–60 MeV ¹⁶O ions on ⁴⁶Ti. The compound nucleus formed by these target-projectile combinations is ⁶²Zn, and its decay by two-proton emission populates yrast levels of ⁶⁰Ni. The ordering and decay modes of the yrast levels were determined from the analyses of in-beam γ-ray angular distribution and γ-γ coincidence measurements. The new levels established are at 4.262, 5.345 and 6.807 MeV. These together with the known 2₁⁺ (1.332 MeV) and 4₁⁺(2.505 MeV) levels constitute the yrast cascade. The spin assignments based on the present study are 6, 7, 9 for the 4.262, 5.345 and 6.807 MeV levels, respectively. The excitation functions for the yrast γ-rays from the ⁵⁰Cr(¹²C, 2p)⁶⁰Ni reaction show peaks near 33 MeV incident energy.     

High spin states in 57Co

High spin states of ⁵⁷Co have been studied via prompt γ-ray spectroscopy in the reactions ⁴⁸Ti(¹²C, p2n) and ⁵⁴Fe(α, p) at 26–48 MeV and 12–24 MeV, respectively. The energies and decay modes of these levels were determined from the analysis of γ-ray singles and γ-γ coincidence spectra, excitation functions, angular distributions and correlations. The relevant lifetimes were measured by the Doppler-shift attenuation method. The new levels established in this work are at 4037, 4814 and 5918 keV with the most probable J^π assignment of $\text{15}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, if $\text{17}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ and $\text{19}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, respectively. The previously known level at 2524 keV was assigned to have $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{13}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$. These together with the known $\text{9}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$(1224 keV) and $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$(1690 keV) levels constitute the yrast states of ⁵⁷Co. The measured lifetimes of the above six levels are (in order of increasing energies) 0.085±0.030, 0.32±0.10, 0.16±0.06, 0.10_?0.07^+0.06, 1.5_?0.5⁴ and 0.17_?0.07^+0.08 ps, respectively. Comparisons with some theoretical calculations are presented.     

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.     

Energy levels in the nucleus 156Dy through the 159Tb(p, 4nγ)156Dy reaction

Using the ¹⁵⁹Tb(p, 4nγ)¹⁵⁶Dy reaction at E_p = 27 to 51 MeV and standard on-line γ-ray spectroscopy methods, the energies and decay properties of members of various rotational bands in the nucleus ¹⁵⁶Dy have been investigated, i.e. the ground-state band up to 14_g⁺, the β-vibrational band up to 14_β⁺,the γ-vibrational band up to 11_γ⁺,and two other bands, one with odd-spin levels up to 11, the other with even-spin levels up to 10. The results are compared with various calculations in the framework of the collective model, and no satisfactory fit is obtained; possible improvements of the model to remove these discrepancies are suggested.