The neutron-rich Mg isotopes: first results from MINIBALL at REX-ISOLDE

2004

After the successful commissioning of the Radioactive beam EXperiment (REX) at ISOLDE (CERN) in 2002, first physics experiments were performed in 2003 which focussed on the neutron-rich Mg isotopes in the vicinity of the “island of inversion”. After introducing the REX facility and the modern γ spectrometer MINIBALL first preliminary results will be presented showing the high potential and physics opportunities offered by this new radioactive beam facility.

Position resolution of the prototype AGATA triple-cluster detector from an in-beam experiment

2009

AGATA belongs to a new generation of gamma-ray detector arrays for nuclear spectroscopy at present in its final stage of development. The detectors of these new arrays will be based on 36-fold electronically segmented coaxial germanium diodes operated in position sensitive mode. An in-beam test of the AGATA prototype triple cluster detector was carried out with the purpose of demonstrating the feasibility of such detectors and in order to measure the most sensitive parameters for their overall performance. An inverse kinematics reaction was performed, using a (48)Ti beam at an energy of 100MeV, impinging on a deuterated titanium tat-get. The results from the analysis of the experimental dat…

Evolution of collectivity inHg180andHg182

2009

Lifetimes of yrast states in $^{180}\mathrm{Hg}$ up to the ${8}^{+}$ state and of the ${9}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ state have been extracted from recoil-decay tagged $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectra by using the recoil distance Doppler-shift method. In addition, lifetimes of yrast states up to the ${10}^{+}$ state in $^{182}\mathrm{Hg}$ have been extracted from recoil-gated $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\gamma}$-coincidence spectra. The present study addresses the evolution of collectivity of two competing shapes in neutron-deficient Hg nuclei as a function of $A$ and the configuration mixing at low spin.

pp and ππ intensity interferometry in collisions of Ar+KCl at 1.76A GeV

2011

Results on pp, π+π+, and π-π- intensity interferometry are reported for collisions of Ar+KCl at 1.76$A$~GeV beam energy, studied with the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at SIS18/GSI. The experimental correlation functions as a function of the relative momentum are compared to model calculations allowing the determination of the space-time extent of the corresponding emission sources. The π π source radii are found significantly larger than the pp emission radius. The present radii do well complement the source-size excitation functions of the collision system of size $A+A \simeq 40+40$. The pp source radius at fixed beam energy is found to increase linearly with the cube r…

Thermonuclear reactionS30(p,γ)Cl31studied via Coulomb breakup ofCl31

2014

Coulomb breakup at high energy in inverse kinematics of proton-rich Cl-31 was used to constrain the thermonuclear S-30(p,gamma)Cl-31 capture reaction rate under typical Type I x-ray burst conditions. This reaction is a bottleneck during rapid proton-capture nucleosynthesis (rp process), where its rate depends predominantly on the nuclear structure of Cl-31. Two low-lying states just above the proton-separation threshold of S-p = 296( 50) keV in Cl-31 have been identified experimentally using the (RB)-B-3-LAND setup at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Schwerionenforschung GmbH. Both states are considered to play a key role in the thermonuclear S-30( p,gamma)Cl-31 capture reaction. Excitation ene…

Measurement of the Dipole Polarizability of the Unstable Neutron-Rich NucleusNi68

2013

The E1 strength distribution in Ni68 has been investigated using Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics at the RB3-LAND setup and by measuring the invariant mass in the one- and two-neutron decay channels. The giant dipole resonance and a low-lying peak (pygmy dipole resonance) have been observed at 17.1(2) and 9.55(17) MeV, respectively. The measured dipole polarizability is compared to relativistic random phase approximation calculations yielding a neutron-skin thickness of 0.17(2) fm. A method and analysis applicable to neutron-rich nuclei has been developed, allowing for a precise determination of neutron skins in nuclei as a function of neutron excess.

Shape Coexistence in the Neutron-Deficient Even-EvenHg182−188Isotopes Studied via Coulomb Excitation

2014

Coulomb-excitation experiments to study electromagnetic properties of radioactive even-even Hg isotopes were performed with 2.85 MeV/nucleon mercury beams from REX-ISOLDE. Magnitudes and relative signs of the reduced E2 matrix elements that couple the ground state and low-lying excited states in Hg182-188 were extracted. Information on the deformation of the ground and the first excited 0(+) states was deduced using the quadrupole sum rules approach. Results show that the ground state is slightly deformed and of oblate nature, while a larger deformation for the excited 0(+) state was noted in Hg-182; 184. The results are compared to beyond mean field and interacting-boson based models and i…

Shape dynamics in neutron-rich Kr isotopes: Coulomb excitation of 92Kr, 94Kr and 96Kr

2013

We report on the study of excited states in 92,94,96Kr populated via projectile Coulomb excitation at safe energies. The radioactive ion beams at energies of 2.85 MeV/u were delivered by the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN and impinged on self-supporting 194,196Pt targets. The emitted γ -rays were detected by the Miniball detector-array. A detailed description of the experimental techniques used for extracting diagonal and transitional matrix elements and of the theoretical framework is given. The present experiment reveals the moderate evolution of the collective structure in the considered neutron-rich Kr isotopic chain, which is supported by the interacting boson model combined with the self…

“Safe” Coulomb Excitation ofMg30

2005

We report on the first radioactive beam experiment performed at the recently commissioned REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN in conjunction with the highly efficient γ spectrometer MINIBALL. Using Mg-30 ions accelerated to an energy of 2.25 MeV/u together with a thin Ni-nat target, Coulomb excitation of the first excited 2(+) states of the projectile and target nuclei well below the Coulomb barrier was observed. From the measured relative deexcitation γ-ray yields the B(E2;0(gs)(+)R 2(1)(+)) value of Mg-30 was determined to be 241(31)e(2) fm(4). Our result is lower than values obtained at projectile fragmentation facilities using the intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation method, and confirms the …

Evidence for Shears Bands in108Cd

1999

High-spin states were populated in ${}^{108}\mathrm{Cd}$ using the ${}^{96}\mathrm{Zr}{(}^{16}\mathrm{O},4n)$ reaction at a beam energy of 72 MeV. Two magnetic dipole bands have been observed, both of which contain weak $E2$ crossover transitions. Lifetimes for the stronger of the two bands were measured via the Doppler shift attenuation method. The configuration assignment for this band has been determined from comparison with tilted axis cranking model calculations to be $\ensuremath{\pi}[{g}_{9/2}^{\ensuremath{-}3}{g}_{7/2}]\ensuremath{\bigotimes}\ensuremath{\nu}[{h}_{11/2}{(g}_{7/2}{d}_{5/2}{)}^{1}]$ and $\ensuremath{\pi}[{g}_{9/2}^{\ensuremath{-}3}{g}_{7/2}]\ensuremath{\bigotimes}\ensu…

Evidence for a Smooth Onset of Deformation in the Neutron-Rich Kr Isotopes

2012

The neutron-rich nuclei Kr94,96 were studied via projectile Coulomb excitation at the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN. Level energies of the first excited 2 + states and their absolute E2 transition strengths to the ground state are determined and discussed in the context of the E(21+) and B(E2;21+→01+) systematics of the krypton chain. Contrary to previously published results no sudden onset of deformation is observed. This experimental result is supported by a new proton-neutron interacting boson model calculation based on the constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach using the microscopic Gogny-D1M energy density functional. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Erratum: Evidence for a Smooth Onset of Deformation in the Neutron-Rich Kr Isotopes [Phys. Rev. Lett.108, 062701 (2012)]

2012

Collectivity and Configuration Mixing inPb186,188andPo194

2006

Lifetimes of prolate intruder states in {sup 186}Pb and oblate intruder states in {sup 194}Po have been determined by employing, for the first time, the recoil-decay tagging technique in recoil distance Doppler-shift lifetime measurements. In addition, lifetime measurements of prolate states in {sup 188}Pb up to the 8{sup +} state were carried out using the recoil-gating method. The B(E2) values have been deduced from which deformation parameters vertical bar {beta}{sub 2} vertical bar =0.29(5) and vertical bar {beta}{sub 2} vertical bar =0.17(3) for the prolate and the oblate bands, respectively, have been extracted. The results also shed new light on the mixing between different shapes.

Collectivity ofPo196at low spin

2009

Absolute electromagnetic transition probabilities in $^{196}\mathrm{Po}$ have been measured using the recoil distance Doppler-shift technique. The lifetimes of the three lowest yrast states in $^{196}\mathrm{Po}$ were extracted from singles \ensuremath{\gamma}-ray spectra by using the recoil-decay tagging method. In addition, configuration mixing calculations of angular momentum projected mean-field states have been carried out for $^{196}\mathrm{Po}$. The present study sheds light on the onset of collectivity and mixing of competing structures in neutron-deficient Po nuclei.

Coulomb Excitation of Neutron-Rich Zn Isotopes: First Observation of the21+State inZn80

2007

Neutron-rich, radioactive Zn isotopes were investigated at the Radioactive Ion Beam facility REX-ISOLDE (CERN) using low-energy Coulomb excitation. The energy of the 2(1)+ state in 78Zn could be firmly established and for the first time the 2+ --> 0(1)+ transition in 80Zn was observed at 1492(1) keV. B(E2,2(1)+ --> 0(1)+) values were extracted for (74,76,78,80)Zn and compared to large scale shell model calculations. With only two protons outside the Z=28 proton core, 80Zn is the lightest N=50 isotone for which spectroscopic information has been obtained to date. Two sets of advanced shell model calculations reproduce the observed B(E2) systematics. The results for N=50 isotones indicate a g…

Transition probability studies in175Au

2013

Transition probabilities have been measured between the low-lying yrast states in 175Au by employing the recoil distance Doppler-shift method combined with the selective recoil-decay tagging technique. Reduced transition probabilities and magnitudes of transition quadrupole moments have been extracted from measured lifetimes allowing dramatic changes in nuclear structure within a low excitation-energy range to probed. The transition quadrupole moment data are discussed in terms of available systematics as a function of atomic number and aligned angular momentum.

Corrigendum to: “Shape dynamics in neutron-rich Kr isotopes: Coulomb excitation of 92Kr, 94Kr and 96Kr” [Nucl. Phys. A 899 (2013) 1–28]

2016

Single-neutron orbits near 78 Ni: Spectroscopy of theN=49isotope 79 Zn

2015

Single-neutron states in the Z=30, N=49isotope 79Zn have been populated using the 78Zn(d,p)79Zn transfer reaction at REX-ISOLDE, CERN. The experimental setup allowed the combined detection of protons ejected in the reaction, and of γrays emitted by 79Zn. The analysis reveals that the lowest excited states populated in the reaction lie at approximately 1MeV of excitation, and involve neutron orbits above the N=50shell gap. From the analysis of γ-ray data and of proton angular distributions, characteristic of the amount of angular momentum transferred, a5/2+configuration was assigned to a state at 983keV. Comparison with large-scale-shell-model calculations supports a robust neutron N=50shell…

Lifetime measurements probing triple shape coexistence in ^{175}Au

2011

Lifetimes of the low-lying excited states in the very neutron-deficient nucleus ${}^{175}$Au have been measured by the recoil-distance Doppler-shift method using $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectra obtained with the recoil-decay tagging technique. Transition quadrupole moments and reduced transition probabilities extracted for this odd-$Z$ nucleus indicate the existence of three different shapes and the competition between collective and noncollective structures.

Shears Mechanism in theA∼110Region

1999

Lifetimes of states in a rotational-like $M1$ band in ${}^{110}\mathrm{Cd}$ have been determined through a Doppler-shift attenuation method measurement performed with the Gammasphere array. The deduced $B(M1)$ values, which agree well with the predictions of the tilted axis cranking model, clearly confirm that it has the character of a shears band. Using a semiclassical scheme of the coupling of two long $j$ vectors we deduce information on the strength and form of the effective interaction between the constituent nucleons. These results are the first definitive evidence of the shears mechanism and ``magnetic rotation'' in this mass region.

The Miniball spectrometer

2013

The Miniball germanium detector array has been operational at the REX (Radioactive ion beam EXperiment) post accelerator at the Isotope Separator On-Line facility ISOLDE at CERN since 2001. During the last decade, a series of successful Coulomb excitation and transfer reaction studies have been performed with this array, utilizing the unique and high-quality radioactive ion beams which are available at ISOLDE. In this article, an overview is given of the technical details of the full Miniball setup, including a description of the γ-ray and particle detectors, beam monitoring devices and methods to deal with beam contamination. The specific timing properties of the REX-ISOLDE facility are hi…

Coulomb Excitation ofCu68,70: First Use of Postaccelerated Isomeric Beams

2007

We report on the first low-energy Coulomb excitation measurements with radioactive Ipi=6- beams of odd-odd nuclei 68,70Cu. The beams were produced at ISOLDE, CERN and were post-accelerated by REX-ISOLDE to 2.83 MeV/nucleon. gamma rays were detected with the MINIBALL spectrometer. The 6- beam was used to study the multiplet of states (3-, 4-, 5-, 6-) arising from the pi2p3/2nu1g9/2 configuration. The 4- state of the multiplet was populated via Coulomb excitation and the B(E2;6--->4-) value was determined in both nuclei. The results obtained illustrate the fragile stability of the Z=28 shell and N=40 subshell closures. A comparison with large-scale shell-model calculations using the 56Ni core…

Lifetimes of odd-spin yrast states inHg182

2010

Lifetimes of excited states in $^{182}\mathrm{Hg}$ were extracted from recoil-gated $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectra and recoil-gated $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\gamma}$-coincidence matrices using the recoil distance Doppler-shift method. States were populated using the $^{96}\mathrm{Mo}$($^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$,$2n$)$^{182}\mathrm{Hg}$ fusion-evaporation reaction. Measured lifetimes allowed transition probabilities, transition quadrupole moments, quadrupole deformation parameters, and transition dipole moments to be deduced for the band formed by the odd-spin yrast states. The experimental results confirm the low degree of octupole collectivity in this mass region.

Measurement of the Spectral Shape of the β -Decay of Xe137 to the Ground State of Cs137 in EXO-200 and Comparison with Theory

2020

We report on a comparison between the theoretically predicted and experimentally measured spectra of the first-forbidden nonunique β-decay transition ^{137}Xe(7/2^{-})→^{137}Cs(7/2^{+}). The experimental data were acquired by the EXO-200 experiment during a deployment of an AmBe neutron source. The ultralow background environment of EXO-200, together with dedicated source deployment and analysis procedures, allowed for collection of a pure sample of the decays, with an estimated signal to background ratio of more than 99 to 1 in the energy range from 1075 to 4175 keV. In addition to providing a rare and accurate measurement of the first-forbidden nonunique β-decay shape, this work constitut…

Superallowed Gamow-Teller decay of the doubly magic nucleus $^{100}$Sn

2012

Expérience au GSI; The shell structure of atomic nuclei is associated with 'magic numbers' and originates in the nearly independent motion of neutrons and protons in a mean potential generated by all nucleons. During b1-decay, a proton transforms into a neutron in a previously not fully occupied orbital, emitting a positron-neutrino pair with either parallel or antiparallel spins, in a Gamow-Teller or Fermi transition, respectively. The transition probability, or strength, of a Gamow-Teller transition depends sensitively on the underlying shell structure and is usually distributed among many states in the neighbouring nucleus. Here we report measurements of the half-life and decay energy fo…

Doubly Magic NucleusHs162108270

2006

Theoretical calculations predict $^{270}\mathrm{Hs}$ ($Z=108$, $N=162$) to be a doubly magic deformed nucleus, decaying mainly by $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle emission. In this work, based on a rapid chemical isolation of Hs isotopes produced in the $^{26}\mathrm{Mg}+^{248}\mathrm{Cm}$ reaction, we observed 15 genetically linked nuclear decay chains. Four chains were attributed to the new nuclide $^{270}\mathrm{Hs}$, which decays by $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle emission with ${Q}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}=9.02\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{MeV}$ to $^{266}\mathrm{Sg}$ which undergoes spontaneous fission with a half-life of ${444}_{\ensuremath{-}148}^{+444}\text{ }\t…

Electromagnetic properties of low-lying states in neutron-deficient Hg isotopes: Coulomb excitation of Hg-182, Hg-184, Hg-186 and Hg-188

2019

The neutron-deficient mercury isotopes serve as a classical example of shape coexistence, whereby at low energy near-degenerate nuclear states characterized by different shapes appear. The electromagnetic structure of even-mass 182-188 Hg isotopes was studied using safe-energy Coulomb excitation of neutron-deficient mercury beams delivered by the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN. The population of $ 0^{+}_{1,2}$01,2+, $ 2^{+}_{1,2}$21,2+and $ 4^{+}_{1}$41+states was observed in all nuclei under study. Reduced E2 matrix elements coupling populated yrast and non-yrast states were extracted, including their relative signs. These are a sensitive probe of shape coexistence and may be used to validate…

Lifetimes of intruder states in 186Pb, 188Pb and 194Po

2008

Abstract Lifetimes of prolate intruder states in 186Pb and 188Pb and oblate intruder states in 194Po have been determined through recoil distance Doppler-shift lifetime measurements. Deformation parameters of | β 2 | = 0.29 ( 5 ) and | β 2 | = 0.17(3) have been extracted from experimental B ( E 2 ) values for the prolate and the oblate bands, respectively. The present study addresses the phenomenon of shape coexistence typical for the nuclei near Z = 82 and N = 104 , providing information on configuration mixing of intrinsic structures of the nuclei of interest. The results are compared with the available lifetime data and theoretical results for neutron-deficient Po, Pb, Hg and Pt nuclei. …

Observation of the3nEvaporation Channel in the Complete Hot-Fusion ReactionMg26+Cm248Leading to the New Superheavy NuclideHs271

2008

The analysis of a large body of heavy ion fusion reaction data with medium-heavy projectiles ($6\ensuremath{\le}Z\ensuremath{\le}18$) and actinide targets suggests a disappearance of the $3n$ exit channel with increasing atomic number of the projectile. Here, we report a measurement of the excitation function of the reaction $^{248}\mathrm{Cm}(^{26}\mathrm{Mg},xn)^{274\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}x}\mathrm{Hs}$ and the observation of the new nuclide $^{271}\mathrm{Hs}$ produced in the $3n$ evaporation channel at a beam energy well below the Bass fusion barrier with a cross section comparable to the maxima of the $4n$ and $5n$ channels. This indicates the possible discovery of new neutron-r…

Coulomb excitation of Na-29,Na-30: Mapping the borders of the island of inversion

2014

Seidlitz, M., et all ; 10 pags. ; 9 figs. ; 1 tab. ; PACS number(s): 21.60.Cs, 23.20.Js, 25.70.De, 29.38.Gj

Lifetime measurement in 195Po

2009

The lifetime of the 17/2+ yrast state in 195Po has been measured using the recoil distance Doppler-shift technique to be $ \tau$ = 43(11) ps. The lifetime was extracted from the singles $ \gamma$ -ray spectra obtained by using the recoil-decay tagging method. The present work provides more information of the coupling schemes, shapes and configuration mixing in neutron-deficient odd-mass Po nuclei.

Shears mechanism in109Cd

2000

Lifetimes of high-spin states in two $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=1$ bands and one $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=2$ band in ${}^{109}\mathrm{Cd}$ have been measured using the Doppler shift attenuation method in an experiment performed using the ${}^{96}\mathrm{Zr}{(}^{18}\mathrm{O},5n)$ reaction with the GAMMASPHERE array. Experimental total angular momenta and reduced transition strengths for both $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=1$ bands were compared with tilted axis cranking (shears mechanism) predictions and the $\ensuremath{\Delta}I=2$ band with principal axis cranking predictions, based on configurations involving two proton ${g}_{9/2}$ holes and one or three valence quasineutrons from the ${h}_{11/2}$ and mi…

AGATA-Advanced GAmma Tracking Array

2012

WOS: 000300864200005

Deep sub-threshold $K^\ast (892)^{\circ}$ production in collisions of Ar + KCl at 1.76 A GeV

2013

Single-neutron orbits near Ni-78: Spectroscopy of the N=49 isotope Zn-79

2015

5 pags., 6 figs.

Deep sub-threshold K*(892)0 production in collisions of Ar + KCl at 1.76A GeV

2013

Results on the deep sub-threshold production of the short-lived hadronic resonance K*(892)0 are reported for collisions of Ar + KCl at 1.76A GeV beam energy, studied with the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at SIS18/GSI. The K*(892)0 production probability per central collision of \( P_{K^{*0}}=(4.4\pm 1.1 \pm 0.5)\times 10^{-4}\) and the K*(892)0/K0 ratio of \( P_{K^{*0}}/P_{K^0}=(1.9\pm 0.5\pm 0.3)\times 10^{-2}\) are determined at the lowest energy so far (i.e. deep below the threshold for the corresponding production in nucleon-nucleon collisions, \( \sqrt{s_{NN}}-\sqrt{s_{thr}}=-340\) MeV). The K*0/K0 ratio is compared with results of other experiments and with the pre…

Transition probability studies in 175Au

2013

Transition probabilities have been measured between the low-lying yrast states in 175Au by employing the recoil distance Doppler-shift method combined with the selective recoil-decay tagging technique. Reduced transition probabilities and magnitudes of transition quadrupole moments have been extracted from measured lifetimes allowing dramatic changes in nuclear structure within a low excitation-energy range to probed. The transition quadrupole moment data are discussed in terms of available systematics as a function of atomic number and aligned angular momentum. peerReviewed

Spectroscopy of $^{46}$Ar by the (t,p) two-neutron transfer reaction

2016

States in the $N=28$ nucleus $^{46}$Ar have been studied by a two-neutron transfer reaction at REX-ISOLDE (CERN). A beam of radioactive $^{44}$ at an energy of 2.16~AMeV and a tritium loaded titanium target were used to populate $^{46}$ by the t($^{44}$,p) two-neutron transfer reaction. Protons emitted from the target were identified in the T-REX silicon detector array. The excitation energies of states in $^{46}$ have been reconstructed from the measured angles and energies of recoil protons. Angular distributions for three final states were measured and based on the shape of the differential cross section an excited state at 3695~keV has been identified as $J^\pi = 0^+$. The angular diffe…