Radioactive decay speedup at T=5 K: electron-capture decay rate of (7)Be encapsulated in C(60)

The electron-capture (EC) decay rate of (7)Be in C(60) at the temperature of liquid helium (T=5 K) was measured and compared with the rate in Be metal at T=293 K. We found that the half-life of (7)Be in endohedral C(60) ((7)Be@C(60)) at a temperature close to T=5 K is 52.47+/-0.04 d, a value that is 0.34% faster than that at T=293 K. In this environment, the half-life of (7)Be is nearly 1.5% faster than that inside Be metal at room temperature (T=293 K). We then interpreted our observations in terms of calculations of the electron density at the (7)Be nucleus position inside the C(60); further, we estimate theoretically the temperature dependence (at T=0 K and 293 K) of the electron density at the Be nucleus position in the stable center inside C(60). The theoretical estimates were almost in agreement with the experimental observations.     

Observation of enhanced orbital electron-capture nuclear decay rate in a compact medium

The eigenstate energies of an atom increase under spatial confinement and this effect should increase the electron density of the orbital electrons at the nucleus thus increasing the decay rate of an electron capturing radioactive nucleus. We have observed that the orbital electron capture rates of ¹⁰⁹In and ¹¹⁰Sn increased by (1.00±0.17)%$(1.00\pm 0.17)\mathrm{\%}$ and (0.48±0.25)%$(0.48\pm 0.25)\mathrm{\%}$ respectively when implanted in the smaller Au lattice compared to implantation in a larger Pb lattice. These observations are interpreted to be a result of the higher compression experienced by the large radioactive atoms in the smaller spatial confinement of the Au lattice.     

On the theory of auto-ionization in electron-capture decay

Existing theories of auto-ionization in electron-capture decay are reviewed. It is proved that the theoretical model recently developed by Law and Campbell is identical with an earlier theory due to the author. Disagreement between the final results obtained from these two theories is traced to additional approximations introduced by Law and Campbell in the course of their calculations. These approximations are critically examined and found to be invalid thus explaining the reported disagreement. The results of various theoretical calculations previously reported by the author are evaluated for several nuclei of interest.     

Energetics and electronic structures of encapsulated C60 in a carbon nanotube

We report total-energy electronic structure calculations that provide energetics of encapsulation of C60 in the carbon nanotube and electronic structures of the resulting carbon peapods. We find that the encapsulating process is exothermic for the (10,10) nanotube, whereas the processes are endothermic for the (8,8) and (9,9) nanotubes, indicative that the minimum radius of the nanotube for the encapsulation is 6.4 A. We also find that the C(60)@(10,10) is a metal with multicarriers each of which distributes either along the nanotube or on the C60 chain. This unusual feature is due to the nearly free electron state that is inherent to hierarchical solids with sufficient space inside.     

Enhanced harmonic generation in C60-containing plasma plumes

The results of enhanced harmonic generation in fullerene-containing plasma plumes using laser radiation of different wavelengths, pulse durations, and phase modulation are presented. Odd and even harmonics up to the 29^th order of 800 nm radiation have been extended in the case of two-color orthogonal polarization pump of C₆₀-containing plasma plumes. The conversion efficiency for the odd and even harmonics in the vicinity of SPR of the C₆₀-containing plasma (40–70 nm) was estimated to be in the range of 10⁻⁴.     

Search for oscillation of the electron-capture decay probability of Pm

We have searched for time modulation of the electron capture decay probability of ¹⁴²Pm in an attempt to confirm a recent claim from a group at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI). We produced ¹⁴²Pm via the ¹²⁴Sn(²³Na, 5n)¹⁴²Pm reaction at the Berkeley 88-Inch Cyclotron with a bombardment time short compared to the reported modulation period. Isotope selection by the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator is followed by implantation and a long period of monitoring the ¹⁴²Nd Kα${\text{K}}_{\alpha }$ x-rays from the daughter. The decay time spectrum of the x-rays is well-described by a simple exponential and the measured half-life of 40.68(53) seconds is consistent with the accepted value. We observed no oscillatory modulation at the proposed frequency at a level 31 times smaller than that reported by Litvinov et al. [Y.A. Litvinov, et al., Phys. Lett. B 664 (2008) 162]. A literature search for previous experiments that might have been sensitive to the reported modulation uncovered another example in ¹⁴²Eu electron-capture decay. A reanalysis of the published data shows no oscillatory behavior.     

Preferred orientations of encapsulated C60 molecules inside single wall carbon nanotubes

A systematical study of the orientational behavior of C60 molecules in single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with different chirality and diameter has been performed by using a model of an infinite long nanotube filled with two C60 (denoted as C60-1 and C60-2) molecules. We studied the preferred orientation of the C60-1 molecule when the neighboring C60-2 molecule was fixed at the pentagon, double-bond, and hexagon orientations respectively. Our results showed that the C60-1 molecule prefers the pentagon (hexagon) orientation when the tube diameter is smaller (larger) than 1.31nm (1.36nm). For the tube diameter in between, the preferred molecular orientation of C60-1 changes from pentagon to hexagon with the increasing tube diameter when the neighboring C60-2 molecule is fixed at the pentagon or double-bond orientation. A novel vertex orientation for the C60-1 molecule has been found when the C60-2 molecule is fixed at the hexagon orientation.     

Magic numbers in metallo-inorganic clusters: chromium encapsulated in silicon cages

A systematic theoretical study of the equilibrium geometries and total energies of Cr encapsulated in Si clusters reveals that Cr@Si(12) is more stable than its neighbors. The origin of this enhanced stability is consistent with the 18-electron sum rule commonly used in the synthesis of stable chemical complexes, and may provide a criterion for a systematic search of magic numbers in metalloinorganic clusters. The 6 mu(B) magnetic moment of the caged Cr atom, the largest among the 3d transition metal atoms, is completely quenched. This effect of caging on the properties of transition metal atoms may lead to the synthesis of novel cluster based materials.     

Allowed electron-capture branches in the decay of 34mCl

The decay of ^34mCl has been studied with 36 and 100 cm³ Ge(Li) detectors and with a high-resolution large volume Ge(Li)-NaI(Tl) Compton-suppression spectrometer. The ^34mCl activity was produced with the reaction ²⁴Mg(¹²C, pn)³⁴Cl at $\text{E(}{}^{12}\text{C}\text{) = 35}\text{MeV}$ by bombarding thick natural Mg targets. The half-life was measured to be $\text{τ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{= 32.06 ± 0.08}\text{min}$. Nine γ-ray transitions were observed including four γ-rays not seen previously. The measured γ-ray intensities determine new electron-capture branches of (0.030 ± 0.006) % and (0.032 ± 0.003) % to ³⁴S levels at 4.69 and 4.88 MeV with log ft values of 5.48 ± 0.08 and 5.26 ±0.04, respectively. These log ft values imply allowed transitions and are consistent with the known J_π values of J_π = 4⁺ and 3⁺ of the 4.69 and 4.88 MeV levels, respectively. A lower limit of log ft ? 6.9 is obtained for the allowed electron-capture branch to the J^π = 2⁺, 4.89 MeV level. Other previously observed decay branches have been confirmed. Since the decay of ^34mCl proceeds (46.9 ± 1.0)% to the ³⁴Cl ground state, the latter decay was studied concurrently; ³⁴Cl(0)with J^π = 0⁺, T = 1 decays exclusively to its analog ³⁴S(0) and the sum of the intensities of four other allowed branches is less than 1.2 × 10^?4 of the intensity of the ground-state branch. The experimental results are compared with recent shell-model calculations performed in a large configuration space.     

Trapping ions at high temperatures: thermal decay of C60 +

An ensemble of trapped C₆₀ ⁺ ions has been heated with a continuous CO₂ laser to a stationary state where, in time average, the same energy is emitted as absorbed. With 10 W laser power, equilibria have been reached, which correspond to temperatures between 1800 and 2000 K. The ions are confined in a radio frequency quadrupole field created by a set of ring electrodes (split ring electrode trap). The number of stored ions can be determined in two ways, on one side by extracting and counting them with a Daly detector, on the other side via imaging their thermal emission onto an intensified CCD camera. Single photon sensitivity and a spatial resolution of a few μm provide precise information on the geometrical distribution and the total number of the trapped C₆₀ ⁺ ions. The spectral distribution of the emitted photons or their total number provides information on the internal energy of the ions. Trapping times of many minutes make it possible to follow very slow thermal loss of C₂ from hot C₆₀ ⁺ resulting in fragmentation rates between 10^?1 and 10^?3 s^?1. Correlating them to the internal temperature leads to a curved Arrhenius plot. The resulting parameters are smaller than the values derived from nonequilibrium ensembles.     

Double internal bremsstrahlung in the electron-capture decay of 55Fe

The energy distribution of photons emitted in double internal bremsstrahlung accompanying the electron-capture decay of ⁵⁵Fe has been investigated. For sum photon energies in the range of 44–230 keV and at an emission angle of 90°, the ratio of transition probabilities of double to single internal bremsstrahlung processes has been found to be (5.6±0.5) × 10^?5. The experimental data are compared with the existing theoretical predictions.     

Electron spin echo at S-band: Nuclear modulations and decay in C60 powder

At S-band (≈ 3 GHz) the modulation amplitude of the Electron Spin Echo patterns is increased with respect to the amplitude at X-band: as a consequence, it is possible to reveal the presence of nuclei not detectable at X-band. In this paper the results obtained by running ESE experiments at S-band on a C₆₀ powder sample containing radicals are shown and discussed. The two- and three-pulse Electron Spin Echo patterns exhibit both¹³C modulation and proton modulation not detected at X-band. The experimental data are quantitatively analyzed by simulating the time-domain patterns and their Fourier transforms. It results that a noticeable amount of proton nuclei surrounds the intrinsic paramagnetic centers. On the basis of the analysis, a possible explanation of their existence is given.     

7Be neutron production cross section on 12C targets

We present an evaluation of the cross section for the reaction ¹²C(n,X)⁷Be. This reaction is relevant to the formation of cosmogenic background in low-energy real time solar neutrino detectors employing carbon-based scintillators. We measured this cross section by using a quasi-monoenergetic (max. 63 MeV) neutron beam at the Centre de Recherches du Cyclotron at Louvain-la-neuve; the produced ⁷Be nuclei were detected by means of low background germanium gamma spectroscopy at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS).     

On the decay of cobalt 60

The gamma spectrum from Cobalt 60 decay has been investigated with a 40 cc Ge(Li) detector. A peak at 822 keV is shown to be not a gamma transition but a single escape peak and an upper limit of 10 is given to the branching ratio of the 2158 keV level.     

Encapsulation of atomic hydrogen into silsesquioxane cages and ESR of encapsulated hydrogen atoms

Hydrogen atoms are encapsulated in octasilsesquioxane, R(SiO_1.5)₈, by irradiation with γ-rays at room temperature. In deca- and dodecasilsesquioxane, hydrogen atoms are encapsulated by irradiation at 77 K. The thermal decay of the encapsulated hydrogen is well described by a single-exponential function. The excitation energies of the decay are 110–117, 50.4, and 55.6 kJ/mol for the hydrogen atoms in Q₈M₈, Q₁₀M₁₀, and Q₁₂M₁₂, respectively. Theg-values and hyperfine splitting (hfs) constants of the hydrogen atoms in R(SiO_1.5)₈ are dependent on the substituents in the corners of the polyhedra, R. Theg-values are independent of the temperatures, while the hfs constants increase as the temperature decreases. Theg-values of the hydrogen atoms in a large encapsulating cavity decrease with increasing cavity size and approach 2.0023. The temperature dependence of the hfs constants for the hydrogen atoms in Q₁₀M₁₀ or Q₁₂M₁₂ suggests that the hydrogen atoms are localized within the encapsulating cages at low temperatures.     

Precision measurement of the (7)Be solar neutrino interaction rate in Borexino

The rate of neutrino-electron elastic scattering interactions from 862 keV (7)Be solar neutrinos in Borexino is determined to be 46.0±1.5(stat)(-1.6)(+1.5)(syst)?counts/(day·100 ton). This corresponds to a ν(e)-equivalent (7)Be solar neutrino flux of (3.10±0.15)×10(9) cm(-2)?s(-1) and, under the assumption of ν(e) transition to other active neutrino flavours, yields an electron neutrino survival probability of 0.51±0.07 at 862 keV. The no flavor change hypothesis is ruled out at 5.0?σ. A global solar neutrino analysis with free fluxes determines Φ(pp)=6.06(-0.06)(+0.02)×10(10) cm(-2)?s(-1) and Φ(CNO)<1.3×10(9) cm(-2)?s(-1) (95% C.L.). These results significantly improve the precision with which the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein large mixing angle neutrino oscillation model is experimentally tested at low energy.