Revision of the decay data of166–170Re,including new isomers167m,169mRe

The neutron-deficient rhenium isotopes^166–170Re were investigated using reactions of³²S with monoisotopic¹⁴¹Pr targets. Gamma-rays following the-decays of^166–169Re were measured for the first time. Four new-rays with energies of 4.70,4.83, 4.87, and 5.02 MeV were detected in addition to the known 5.50, 5.26, and 5.06 MeV-rays. Alpha-decaying isomer pairs were discovered in¹⁶⁷Re and¹⁶⁹Re. The measured half-lives are 2.3(2)s for¹⁶⁶Re, 3.4(4)s and 6.2(5)s for¹⁶⁷Re, 4.4(1)s for¹⁶⁸Re, 8.1(5)s and 16.3(8)s for¹⁶⁹Re, and 9.2(2)s for¹⁷⁰Re. The nuclear structure is discussed in terms of single-particle states.This work has been funded by the German Federal Minister for Research and Technology (BMFT) under contract number 06GÖ105     

Study of solid state reactions in Nb/Al multilayer thin films

Solid state reactions of sputter-deposited Nb/Al multilayer thin films, with periodicities in the range 10–333 nm, have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The first phase to form upon annealing the films in NbAl₃. Constant-heating-rate calorimetric measurements show the presence of two peaks for the formation of this phase, while isothermal scans reveal that the first peak is associated with a nucleation and growth type transformation. The formation of NbAl₃ is thus interpreted as a two-stage process of nucleation and growth to coalescence (first peak) followed by growth until the consumption of one or both reactants (second peak).We thank NSF for support through DMR-9308651, K. Coffey, S. Vivekanand and B. Gadicharla for assistance and TA Instruments for the donation of a 1600°C furnace.     

Lacunary eta-quotients modulo powers of primes

The Ramanujan Journal - An integral power series is called lacunary modulo M if almost all of its coefficients are divisible by M. Motivated by the parity problem for the partition function, Gordon...     

The decay of the isotopes179Ir and180Ir

The probability for non-radiative (n.r.) excitations in muonic²⁰⁹Bi was determined from a ( ^–,)-measurement by comparing the intensities of muonic X-ray transitions in single and coincidence spectra. The values of P_n.r(3p1s)=(17.9±2.0)% and P_n.r.(3d1s)=(3.0±2.2)% were measured for the first time. The strength of the n.r. decay of the 2p-level was found to be (4.2±2.2)%. The n.r. transition probabilities of two subcomplexes of the (2p1s)-transition leading to different mean excitation energies are (3.2±1.8)% and (5.0±2.0)%, respectively.We are indebted to the following institutes or organizations for financial support: Bundesministerium ffir Forschung und Technologic der Bundesrepubfik Deutschland contract number 06 BN 271 (HP, PD, HH, FR, CR), Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) and the Netherlands Organization of the Advancement of Pure Research (NWO) (JK, CTAMdL, WL, AT) and the Schweizer Nationalfonds (LS).     

Beta-delayed gammas and QEC-values in the decays of150m,152mHo and149Dy

^{150m, 152m}Ho, and¹⁴⁹Dy were produced by fusion-evaporation reactions of⁴⁰Ar with targets of natural indium and¹¹⁴Cd. Theβ-decays of the isotopes were reinvestigated with emphasis on high-excitation daughter states. The decay energies for selectedβ-transitions were measured from electron-capture to positron-decay ratios. Corrections forγ-feeding from higher-lying states were taken into account. The following Q_EC-values were derived for^150mHo,^152mHo, and^149mDy of 6819 ( _?100 ⁺¹¹⁷ , 6263 ( _?80 ⁺⁸⁹ ), and 3914 ( _?52 ⁺⁷⁶ ) keV, respectively.     

F-(H2O)+CH3I Ligand Exchange Reaction Dynamics

Single hydration of the gas phase F\begin{document}$^-$\end{document}+CH\begin{document}$_3$\end{document}I\begin{document}$\rightarrow$\end{document} I\begin{document}$^-$\end{document}+CH\begin{document}$_3$\end{document}F reaction allows to probe solvent effects on a fundamental nucleophilic substitution reaction. At the same time, the addition of a solvent molecule opens alternative product channels. Here, we present crossed beam imaging results on the dynamics of the F\begin{document}$^-$\end{document}(H\begin{document}$_2$\end{document}O)+CH\begin{document}$_3$\end{document}I\begin{document}$\rightarrow$\end{document}[FCH\begin{document}$_3$\end{document}I]\begin{document}$^-$\end{document}+H\begin{document}$_2$\end{document}O ligand exchange pathway at collision energies between 0.3 and 2.6 eV. Product kinetic energies are constrained by the stability requirement of the weakly bound product complexes. This implies substantial internal excitation of the water molecule and disfavors efficient energy redistribution in an intermediate complex, which is reflected by the suppression of low kinetic energies as collision energy increases. At 0.3 eV, internal nucleophilic displacement is important and is discussed in light of the competing nucleophilic substitution pathways that form I\begin{document}$^-$\end{document} and I\begin{document}$^-$\end{document}(H\begin{document}$_2$\end{document}O).     

Thermal neutron captureγ-ray spectroscopy of59Ni and61Ni

Theγ-radiation emitted after thermal neutron capture in isotopically enriched⁵⁸Ni and⁶⁰Ni was measured at the ILL high flux reactor by means of Ge/NaI detectors operated in Compton suppression and pair spectrometer mode. The neutron binding energies were determined asB _n (⁵⁹Ni)=8999.15(23) keV and B_n(⁶¹Ni)=7820.07(20) keV; some 95% of the totalγ-ray fluxes through^59,61Ni were assigned. Theγ-ray strength functions of the primary transitions and the level densities are discussed.     

Atomic masses of147m, 148m, 149m Tb,148Dy,150m, 152m Ho derived from decay properties

Using nuclear fusion reactions of⁴⁰Ar ions with¹¹²Cd,¹¹⁴Sn and¹¹⁶Sn and subsequentγ-ray spectroscopy, the probability ratios of positron emission and electron capture,β ⁺/EC _k andβ ⁺/(EC+β ⁺), are determined for individualβ-transitions in the decay of^147m ,^148m ,^149m Tb,¹⁴⁸Dy and^150m ,^152m Ho. From comparison with theoretical ratios the followingQ _EC values, given in keV, are derived:^147m Tb, 4.620(60);^148m Tb, 5.730(30);^149m Tb, 3.610(50);¹⁴⁸Dy, 2.680(30);^150m Ho, 6.625(120) and^152m Ho, 6.470(80). The present decay-energy data are compared with earlier measurements and the new information obtained for the mass surface around¹⁴⁶Gd is discussed.     

Investigation of neutron-deficient tungsten isotopes168−174W

The decays of^168?174W were observed in the reactions of³⁶Ar and⁴⁰Ar beams with enriched targets of¹³⁶BaF₂ and¹³⁸BaF₂. The measured half-lives are 53(2) s, 76(6) s, 2.42(4) min, 2.38(4) min, 6.6(9) min, 6.3(4) min, and 35.3 (5) min, respectively. Decay schemes were derived from theγ ^? and X-ray coincidence data. Spin assignments of ground- and excited states are discussed within experimental level systematics and compared with the results of microscopic-macroscopic model calculations. Excitation energies of modeled one-quasiparticle states were found in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Allowed unhindered beta decay from the 5/2^? [523] to the 7/2^? [523] configuration was identified in¹⁷¹W and this transition is also proposed for the decays of the even-even isotopes^{168, 170}W.     

Characterization and comparison of X-ray focusing optics for ultrafast X-ray diffraction experiments

We have characterized and compared the performance of different types of multi-layer optics for the focusing of femtosecond X-ray pulses. Using X-ray pulses at 8 keV, from a laser-driven plasma source we have measured the spatial distribution of the diffracted X-rays directly after and in the focal plane of the various X-ray optical devices. For a Montel optic with 7.3× magnification we obtained the largest number of focused X-ray photons per unit angle. The performance of this optic in the X-ray diffraction experiment on a thin germanium film is demonstrated.