Isomer spectroscopy of neutron-rich 165,167Tb

We present information on the excited states in the prolate-deformed, neutron-rich nuclei 165,167Tb100,102. The nuclei of interest were synthesised following in-flight fission of a 345 MeV per nucleon 238U primary beam on a 2 mm 9Be target at the Radioactive Ion-Beam Factory (RIBF), RIKEN, Japan. The exotic nuclei were separated and identified event-by-event using the BigRIPS separator, with discrete energy gamma-ray decays from isomeric states with half-lives in the μs regime measured using the EURICA gamma-ray spectrometer. Metastable-state decays are identified in 165Tb and 167Tb and interpreted as arising from hindered E1 decay from the 72−[523] single quasi-proton Nilsson configuration to rotational states built on the 32−[411] single quasi-proton ground state. These data correspond to the first spectroscopic information in the heaviest, odd-A terbium isotopes reported to date and provide information on proton Nilsson configurations which reside close to the Fermi surface as the 170Dy doubly-midshell nucleus is approached.This work is supported by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC); the UK National Measurement Office (NMO, P.H.R.); JSPS KAKENHI grant Nos. 24740188, 25247045, and 25287065; the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 (F.G.K.); NRF Korea grants Nos. 2009-0093817 and 2013R1A1A2063017 (C.S.L.), 2015R1D1A1A01056918, 2016R1A5A1013277 and 2016K1A3A7A 09005579 (K.Y.C.); the Hungarian Research Fund OTKA contract No. K100835 and Science Foundation Ireland under grant No. 12/IP/1288 (O.J.R.)

γ -ray spectroscopy of low-lying excited states and shape competition in Os 194

The properties of excited states in the neutron-rich nucleus 194Os have been investigated using the 192Os(18O,16O)194Os reaction with an 80 MeV beam provided by the IFIN-HH Laboratory, Bucharest. Discrete γ -ray decays from excited states have been measured using the hybrid HPGe-LaBr3(Ce) array RoSPHERE. The current work identifies a number of previously unreported low-lying nonyrast states in 194Os as well as the first measurement of the half-life of the yrast 2+ state of 302(50) ps. This is equivalent to a B(E2 : 2+ → 0+) = 45(16) W.u. and intrinsic quadrupole deformation of βeff = 0.14(1). The experimental results are compared with Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov–interacting-boson-model calculations and are consistent with a reduction in a quadrupole collectivity in Os isotopes with increasing neutron number

γ -ray spectroscopy of low-lying excited states and shape competition in Os 194

The properties of excited states in the neutron-rich nucleus 194Os have been investigated using the 192Os(18O,16O)194Os reaction with an 80 MeV beam provided by the IFIN-HH Laboratory, Bucharest. Discrete γ -ray decays from excited states have been measured using the hybrid HPGe-LaBr3(Ce) array RoSPHERE. The current work identifies a number of previously unreported low-lying nonyrast states in 194Os as well as the first measurement of the half-life of the yrast 2+ state of 302(50) ps. This is equivalent to a B(E2 : 2+ → 0+) = 45(16) W.u. and intrinsic quadrupole deformation of βeff = 0.14(1). The experimental results are compared with Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov–interacting-boson-model calculations and are consistent with a reduction in a quadrupole collectivity in Os isotopes with increasing neutron number

Isomer spectroscopy of neutron-rich 168Tb103

In-flight fission of a 345 MeV per nucleon 238U primary beam on a 2 mm thick 9Be target has been used to produce and study the decays of a range of neutron-rich nuclei centred around the doubly mid-shell nucleus 170Dy at the RIBF Facility, RIKEN, Japan. The produced secondary fragments of interest were identified event-by event using the BigRIPS separator. The fragments were implanted into the WAS3ABI position sensitive silicon active stopper which allowed pixelated correlations between implants and their subsequent β-decay. Discrete γ-ray transitions emitted following decays from either metastable states or excited states populated following beta decay were identified using the 84 coaxial high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors of the EURICA spectrometer, which was complemented by 18 additional cerium-doped lanthanum bromide (LaBr3) fast-timing scintillation detectors from the FATIMA collaboration. This paper presents the internal decay of a metastable isomeric excited state in the odd-odd nucleus 168Tb, which corresponds to a single proton-neutron hole configuration in the valence maximum nucleus 170Dy. These data represent the first information on excited states in this nucleus, which is the most neutron rich odd-odd isotope of terbium (Z=65) studied to date. Nilsson configurations associated with an axially symmetric, prolate-deformed nucleus are proposed for the 168Tb ground state the observed isomeric state by comparison with Blocked BCS-Nilsson calculation

Evolution of E2 strength in the rare-earth isotopes Hf-174,Hf-176,Hf-178,Hf-180

Mean lifetimes of yrast states of the isotopes Hf-174,Hf-176,Hf-178,Hf-180 have been measured using fast-electronic scintillation timing. Excited states of Hf-174,Hf-176,Hf-178 were populated via beta decay, while 180 Hf was populated via Coulomb excitation. The lifetimes of the 2(1)(+) and 4(1)(+) states of all isotopes and the lifetimes of the 6(1)(+) states of Hf-174,Hf-178 were measured, using the slope and the centroid shift methods. The mean lifetime, tau(4(1)(+)) = 85(13) ps, of Hf-178 has been determined for the first time. In addition, the mean lifetimes of the 2(1)(-) and the 3(1)(-) states of Hf-176 have been determined. Systematic uncertainties on the evolution of data as a function of neutron number were reduced by using the same setup for all the isotopes of interest. The data are in agreement with other recent lifetime measurements where available and shows a shift of the maximum of collectivity for the Hf isotopic chain from neutron midshell at N = 104 to N = 100

Nanosecond lifetime measurements of Iπ¼9/2- intrinsic excited states and low-lying B(E1)strengths in 183Re using combined HPGe-LaBr3 coincidence spectroscopy

This paper presents precision measurements of electromagnetic decay probabilities associated with electric dipole transitions in the prolate-deformed nucleus 183Re. The nucleus of interest was formed using the fusion evaporation reaction 180Hf(7Li,4n)183Re at a beam energy of 30 MeV at the tandem accelerator at the HH-IFIN Institute, Bucharest Romania. Coincident decay gamma rays from near-yrast cascades were detected using the combined HPGe-LaBr3 detector array ROSPHERE. The time differences between cascade gamma rays were measured using the LaBr3 detectors to determine the half-lives of the two lowest lying spin-parity 9/2- states at excitation energies of 496 and 617 keV to be 5.65(5) and 2.08(3) ns respectively. The deduced E1 transition rates from these two states are discussed in terms of the K-hindrance between the low-lying structures in this prolate-deformed nucleus

Nanosecond lifetime measurements of Iπ¼9/2- intrinsic excited states and low-lying B(E1)strengths in 183Re using combined HPGe-LaBr3 coincidence spectroscopy

This paper presents precision measurements of electromagnetic decay probabilities associated with electric dipole transitions in the prolate-deformed nucleus 183Re. The nucleus of interest was formed using the fusion evaporation reaction 180Hf(7Li,4n)183Re at a beam energy of 30 MeV at the tandem accelerator at the HH-IFIN Institute, Bucharest Romania. Coincident decay gamma rays from near-yrast cascades were detected using the combined HPGe-LaBr3 detector array ROSPHERE. The time differences between cascade gamma rays were measured using the LaBr3 detectors to determine the half-lives of the two lowest lying spin-parity 9/2- states at excitation energies of 496 and 617 keV to be 5.65(5) and 2.08(3) ns respectively. The deduced E1 transition rates from these two states are discussed in terms of the K-hindrance between the low-lying structures in this prolate-deformed nucleus