Properties of the β-delayed proton decay of 146Ho

The proton-rich isotope 146Ho was produced via the fusion-evaporation reaction ^92Mo （^58Ni, 3p1n）. The β-delayed proton decay of 146Ho was studied by proton-γ coincidence measurements using a He-jet tape transport system. The γ-transitions in ^145Tb following the proton emissions were observed, and the β-delayed proton branching ratios to the final states in the grand-daughter nucleus ^145Tb were determined. According to the relative branching ratios, the ground-state spin of 146Ho has been proposed and the possible configuration discussed.     

Structure of the proton emitter La studied by proton and γ-ray spectroscopy

Proton radioactivity from ¹¹⁷La was re-investigated with much improved statistics and precision. Only the ground-state proton decay (Ep=813(3) keV, T1/2=20.1(25) ms) was observed, no evidence for a previously reported isomeric proton decay was found. Prompt γ rays in ¹¹⁷La were identified using the Recoil-Decay Tagging method. Overall the data indicate that the proton-emitting state is associated with a Kπ=3/²⁺ configuration, in agreement with all the published proton-decay calculations and predictions for the ground-state configuration of ¹¹⁷La calculated in the framework of either adiabatic or non-adiabatic particle models. However, this is not in agreement with the most recent state-of-the-art quasi-particle non-adiabatic model calculations which predict a Kπ=7/²⁻ configuration.     

Properties of the β-delayed proton decay of ~(146)Ho

The proton-rich isotope 146Ho was produced via the fusion-evaporation reaction 92Mo (58Ni, 3p1n). The β-delayed proton decay of 146Ho was studied by proton-γ coincidence measurements using a He-jet tape transport system. The γ-transitions in 145Tb following the proton emissions were observed, and the β-delayed proton branching ratios to the final states in the grand-daughter nucleus 145Tb were determined. According to the relative branching ratios, the ground-state spin of 146Ho has been proposed and the possible configuration discussed.     

β-delayed proton decays near the proton drip line

Simply speaking, the drip line is the margin in chart of the nuclides where the nu-clides with the lower limits of detectable lifetime survive. The N/Z ratios of the nuclides on the drip line are extreme. Synthesis of the nuclei near the drip line and study of their exotic decays deal with the physics under extreme conditions, and therefore become one of the frontiers in nuclear physics today. The rare-earth nuclei near the proton drip line have been predicted to be highly deformed[1]. They a…     

The spectroscopy of 22Al: a βp, β2p and βα emitter

In an experiment at the LISE3 facility of GANIL, we produced the proton-rich isotope ²²Al by the fragmentation of a ³⁶Ar primary beam at 95 MeV/nucleon. After implantation in a detector telescope, the decay of ²²Al via β-delayed proton emission, β-delayed two-proton emission as well as, for the first time, via β-delayed α emission has been studied. An α peak has been observed at (3.27 ± 0.04) MeV with a branching ratio of (0.31 ± 0.09) %. The comparison of the different decay channels to those of the mirror nucleus ²²F and to shell-model calculations favor a 3⁺ state as being the ground state of ²²Al. A half life of T_1/2 = (59 ± 3) ms has been measured.     

β-delayed proton decays of 93Pd and 92Rh

β-delayed proton precursors ⁹³Pd and ⁹²Rh were produced by the irradiation of ⁵⁸Ni with a ⁴⁰Ca beam, and identified using proton-gamma coincidence measurements in combination with a helium-jet fast tape transport system. The half-lives of ⁹³Pd and ⁹²Rh were determined to be 1.3(2), 3.0(8) s, respectively. The measured energy spectrum of β-delayed protons and the estimated relative branching ratios to the final states in the daughter nuclei were fitted by a statistic model calculation, and then the ground-state spin and parity of ⁹³Pd were assigned as 9/2^±. Received: 13 April 2001 / Accepted: 22 August 2001     

Nuclear structure explored by β-delayed decay spectroscopy of spin-polarized radioactive nuclei at TRIUMF ISAC-1

Spin-polarized radioactive nuclear beams at TRIUMF enable a new spectroscopic method which efficiently assigns spins and parities of the daughter levels by taking advantage of the asymmetric β-decay of the polarized parent nucleus. This method was successfully applied to structure studies of ²⁹Mg and ³⁰Mg in connection with the physics of the “island of inversion”. In ²⁹Mg, two low-lying levels with intruder configuration were assigned. In ³⁰Mg, coexistence of spherical shape, prolate shape and γ-collectivity was strongly suggested.     

Search for β-delayed fission of the heavy neutron-rich isotope 230Ac

The ²³⁰Ra has been produced via multinucleon transfer reaction and dissipative fragmentation by 60 MeV/u ¹⁸O ion irradiation of ²³²Th targets. The radium was radiochemically separated from the mixture of thorium and reaction products. Thin Ra sources were prepared and exposed to the mica fission track detectors, and measured by a HPGe gamma detector. It is likely that the β-delayed fission of ²³⁰Ac was observed for the first time and the β-delayed fission probability of ²³⁰Ac was tentatively found to be (1.19±0.40)×10^-8. Received: 2 November 2000 / Accepted: 30 January 2001     

Determination of the fission barrier of232Pu from β-delayed fission and the problem of the first barrier

A delayed fission activity with a half-life of (55±7) s and a production cross section of (5±1)nb has been observed in the irradiation of²³⁷Np with 104 MeVα particles. It is tentatively assigned to the electron capture decay of²³²Am followed by fission of²³²Pu With a probability of (1.3 _?0.8 ⁺⁴ )· 10^?2 A barrier height of (5.3±0.4) MeV is extracted for²³²Pu exceeding theoretical barrier heights by about 2MeV. Systematic deviations between experimental and theoretical barrier heights previously observed in particular for U and Th isotopes are now also established for neutron deficient Pu isotopes indicating severe defects in the procedure of calculating static fission barriers.     

First measurement of β-decay properties of the proton drip-line nucleus 60Ga

By using the fusion-evaporation reaction ²⁸Si(³⁶Ar,p3n) and spectroscopy of β-delayed γ-rays and charged particles on mass-separated sources, β-decay properties of the neutron-deficient isotope ⁶⁰Ga were studied for the first time. The half-life of ⁶⁰Ga was determined to be 70(15) ms, and, based on βγγ coincidences, the isobaric-analogue state in ⁶⁰Zn was identified at 4851.9(7) keV. A semiempirical proton separation energy value of 40(70) keV was deduced for ⁶⁰Ga. The experimental results on half-life, mass excess, proton separation energy, and structure of the ⁶⁰Zn daughter states are discussed in comparison with various model predictions, including large-scale shell model calculations. Received: 4 September 2001 / Accepted: 12 November 2001     

The β-delayed one- and two-proton emission of 27S

In an experiment performed at the GANIL LISE3 facility, radioactive ²⁷S isotopes have been produced by projectile fragmentation of a 95 AMeV ³⁶Ar primary beam. After selection by means of the LISE3 separator, the isotope of interest was implanted in a silicon-detector telescope where its half-life ( T _1/2 = 15.5(15) ms) and its main decay branches were measured. Received: 19 October 2001 / Accepted: 5 December 2001     

New Results of β-delayed α Decay of 20Na

The β-delayed α decay of ²⁰Na was restudied using neon target bombarded by 25 and 35.5 MeV protons.In this experiment a newly developed particle-telescope system including a gas ionization chamber as a thin ΔE detector was used. Two new peaks,one at 0.695 MeV and other at 0.907 MeV, were observed for the first time in the charged particle spectra. Based on particle identification, branching ratio and life time measurement,it is believed that these new peaks result from β-delayed low energy αdecay of ²⁰Na.The decay scheme and the low-lying level scheme of 20Na were thus revised.Its possible astrophysical implications were discussed.     

Synchrotron radiation based Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy of various nuclides

Synchrotron-radiation (SR) based Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy of various nuclides is reviewed. The details of the measuring system and analysis method are described. Especially, the following two advantages of the current system are described: the detection of internal conversion electrons and the close distance between the energy standard scatterer and the detector. Both of these advantages yield the enhancement of the counting rate and reduction of the measuring time. Furthermore, SR-based Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy of ⁴⁰K, ¹⁵¹Eu, and ¹⁷⁴Yb is introduced to show the wide applicability of this method. In addition to these three nuclides, SR-based Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy of ⁶¹Ni, ⁷³Ge, ¹¹⁹Sn, ¹²⁵Te, ¹²⁷I, ¹⁴⁹Sm, and ¹⁸⁹Os has been performed. We continue to develop the method to increase available nuclides and to increase its ease of use. The complementary relation between the time-domain method using SR, such as nuclear forward scattering and the energy-domain methods such as SR-based Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy is also noted.     

Behaviors of harmonic signals in wavelength-modulated spectroscopy under high absorption strength

Behaviors of harmonic signals in wavelength modulation spectroscopy(WMS)for gas detection with Lorentzian line under high absorption strength are investigated.Approximate analytic expressions of the second,fourth,and sixth harmonics on the strength are presented in concise forms.Simulations show that the expressions are in agreement with the Fourier expansion by numerical integration.It is expected theoretically and experimentally in a WMS system for methane detection that there are not only a maximum,but also a null point in the harmonics versus strength relations,which should be of practical importance in methane sensing applications.     

X-ray absorption spectroscopy of the 90K superconductor YBa2Cu3O7−δ

X-ray absorption spectroscopy has been used to probe the Cu environment of the new highT _c YBa₂Cu₃O_7– superconductor. Evidences of other valencies than two are found for copper. Besides Cu¹⁺ which is localized on Cu₁ sites when the unit cell is oxygendeficient, one invokes a ground state which merges bivalent 3d ⁹ to 3d ⁹ L configurations as proposed in a recent paper (L stands for a ligand hole in the CuO bond) very similar to that observed in many light rare earth oxides.     

Structural investigation of the zincblende-β tin transition for gasb by in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Abstract

The transition to the β tin structure has been observed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy for GaSb at 7.9 GPa. In the low pressure phase, the bulk modulus has been determined. In the high pressure phase, the results for the Ga-Sb and Ga-Ga distances are in good agreement with previous x-ray diffraction data. The pseudo Debye-Waller factor associated to the Ga-Sb distance is abnormally high, indicating that disorder exists for this bond.     

High-resolution cavity leak-out absorption spectroscopy in the 10-μm region

2 laser. After excitation, the laser power is turned off for a short time and the subsequent decay of the radiation stored in the cavity is observed via detection of the light leaking out through one of the cavity mirrors. Measurement of the decay time allows one to determine the photon losses und thus to detect weakly absorbing species inside the cavity. Since the cavity is frequency-locked to the laser the decay time can be probed with a high repetition rate, basically limited by the sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter. This approach is closely related to cavity ring-down spectroscopy with pulsed lasers, but exhibits several advantages concerning spectral resolution and detection sensitivity. As a practical example we demonstrate monitoring of trace amounts of ethylene. Using R=99.5% mirrors we achieve a detection limit of 1 ppb ethylene (integration time: 100 s) corresponding to absorption losses of 3×10^-8 /cm. Further improvement is feasible when mirrors with higher reflectivity become available. Received: 2 July 1998     

Effect of local atomic phase separation in the x-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy of FeSexTe1−x

Ab initio X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) calculations for FeSe_xTe_1−x, using a structural model that combines FeSe and FeTe phases at the nanoscale, are compared with Fe K-edge XANES measurements in the “pre-edge” region. The important aspects of this model are (i) magnetic order in the FeTe phase; (ii) Se and Te atoms placed randomly in both FeSe and FeTe crystallographic positions and; (iii) the two distinct distances for Fe–Se and Fe–Te of the bulk phases. The calculated spectra reproduce the observed increase of spectral weight in the experiments on FeSe_xTe_1−x with Se concentration. This is consistent with an inhomogeneous local electronic structure of FeSe_xTe_1−x. Additionally, we have calculated projected electronic density of d-states for the Fe atom, revealing increased spectral weight in the “pre-edge” region of the XANES spectra, which correlates with the increase in Se concentration. The decrease of calculated Fe d-density of states for the Fermi level, N(ε_F), for high Te content is consistent with the suppression of superconductivity in the title system.