0000000000384744
AUTHOR
Maya Takechi
Approaching the precursor nuclei of the third r-process peak with RIBs
The rapid neutron nucleosynthesis process involves an enormous amount of very exotic neutron-rich nuclei, which represent a theoretical and experimental challenge. Two of the main decay properties that affect the final abundance distribution the most are half-lives and neutron branching ratios. Using fragmentation of a primary $^{238}$U beam at GSI we were able to measure such properties for several neutron-rich nuclei from $^{208}$Hg to $^{218}$Pb. This contribution provides a short update on the status of the data analysis of this experiment, together with a compilation of the latest results published in this mass region, both experimental and theoretical. The impact of the uncertainties …
Commissioning of the BRIKEN beta-delayed neutron detector for the study of exotic neutron-rich nuclei
Beta-delayed neutron emission (Beta-n) is a form of radioactive decay in which an electron, an anti-neutrino and one or more neutrons are emitted. This process arises if the energy window of the decay Q_Beta is greater than the neutron separation energy S n of the daughter. The probability in each decay of emitting neutrons is called the Pn value. This form of decay plays a key role in the synthesis of chemical elements in the Universe via the rapid neutron capture process, or r-process. The r-process proceeds far from the valley of nuclear stability, and leads to very neutron-rich nuclei that then decay to the line of stability. Most of these nuclei are ßn emitters. The initial abundance d…
The FRS Ion Catcher
At the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI, projectile and fission fragments are produced at relativistic energies, separated in-flight, range-focused, slowed down and thermalized in a cryogenic stopping cell. A multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) is used to perform direct mass measurements and to provide an isobarically clean beam for further experiments, such as mass-selected decay spectroscopy. A versatile RF quadrupole transport and diagnostics unit guides the ions from the stopping cell to the MR-TOF-MS, provides differential pumping, ion identification and includes reference ion sources. The FRS Ion Catcher serves as a test facility for the Low-Energy Branch of the Sup…
The BRIKEN Project: Extensive Measurements of $\beta $-delayed Neutron Emitters for the Astrophysical r Process
An ambitious program to measure decay properties, primarily β-delayed neutron emission probabilities and half-lives, for a significant number of nuclei near or on the path of the rapid neutron capture process, has been launched at the RIKEN Nishina Center. We give here an overview of the status of the project.
First experimental results of a cryogenic stopping cell with short-lived, heavy uranium fragments produced at 1000 MeV/u
A cryogenic stopping cell (CSC) has been commissioned with U-238 projectile fragments produced at 1000 MeV/u. The spatial isotopic separation in flight was performed with the FRS applying a monoenergetic degrader. For the first time, a stopping cell was operated with exotic nuclei at cryogenic temperatures (70 to 100K). A helium stopping gas density of up to 0.05mg/cm(3) was used, about two times higher than reached before for a stopping cell with RF ion repelling structures. An overall efficiency of up to 15%, a combined ion survival and extraction efficiency of about 50%, and extraction times of 24ms were achieved for heavy a-decaying uranium fragments. Mass spectrometry with a multiple-r…