Decay of proton-rich nuclei between 39Ti and 49Ni

Decay studies of very neutron-deficient nuclei ranging from 39Ti to 49Ni have been performed during a projectile fragmentation experiment at the GANIL/LISE3 separator. For all nuclei studied in this work, 39,40Ti, 42,43Cr, 46Mn, 45,46,47Fe and 49Ni, half-lives and decay spectra have been measured. In a few cases, gamma coincidence measurements helped to successfully identify the initial and final states of transitions. In these cases, partial decay scheme are proposed. For the most exotic isotopes, 39Ti, 42Cr, 45Fe and 49Ni, which are candidates for two-proton radioactivity from the ground state, no clear evidence of this process is seen in our spectra and we conclude rather on a delayed particle decay.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figures, submitted for publication in Eur. Phys. J.

First observation of 55,56Zn

In an experiment at the SISSI/LISE3 facility of GANIL, the most proton-rich zinc isotopes 55,56Zn have been observed for the first time. The experiment was performed using a high-intensity 58Ni beam at 74.5 MeV/nucleon impinging on a nickel target. The identification of 55,56Zn opens the way to 54Zn, a good candidate for two-proton radioactivity according to theoretical predictions.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Eur. Phys. J.

On the discovery of doubly-magic 48^{48}Ni

The paper reports on the first observation of doubly-magic Nickel-48 in an experimental at the SISSI/LISE3 facility of GANIL. Four Nickel-48 isotopes were identified. In addition, roughly 100 Nickel-49, 50 Iron-45, and 290 Chromium-42 isotopes were observed. This opens the possibility to search for two-proton emission from these nuclei.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Magnetic Moment of the Fragmentation Aligned 61Fe(9/2)+ Isomer

We report on the g factor measurement of the isomer in $^{61}Fe$ ($E^{*}=861 keV$). The isomer was produced and spin-aligned via a projectile-fragmentation reaction at intermediate energy, the Time Dependent Perturbed Angular Distribution (TDPAD) method being used for the measurement of the g factor. For the first time, due to significant improvements of the experimental technique, an appreciable residual alignment of the isomer has been observed, allowing a precise determination of its g factor: $g=-0.229(2)$. Comparison of the experimental g factor with shell-model and mean field calculations confirms the $9/2^+$ spin and parity assignments and suggests the onset of deformation due to the intrusion of Nilsson orbitals emerging from the $\nu g_{9/2}$.Comment: 4 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Experiments with neutron-rich isomeric beams

A review of experimental results obtained on microsecond-isomeric states in neutron-rich nuclei produced in fragmentation reactions and studied with SISSI-Alpha-LISE3 spectrometer system at GANIL Caen is given. The perspectives of experiments based on secondary reactions with isomeric beams are presented

Generalized seniority scheme in light Sn isotopes

The yrast generalized seniority states are compared with the corresponding shell model states for the case of the Sn isotopes $^{104-112}$Sn. For most of the cases the energies agree within 100 keV and the overlaps of the wave functions are greater than 0.7.Comment: 8 pages, revtex. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Spectroscopy of 26^{26}F

The structure of the weakly-bound $^{26}_{\;\;9}$F$_{17}$ odd-odd nucleus, produced from $^{27,28}$Na nuclei, has been investigated at GANIL by means of the in-beam $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy technique. A single $\gamma$-line is observed at 657(7) keV in $^{26}_{9}$F which has been ascribed to the decay of the excited J=$2^+$ state to the J=1$^+$ ground state. The possible presence of intruder negative parity states in $^{26}$F is also discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Probing Nuclear forces beyond the drip-line using the mirror nuclei 16^{16}N and 16^{16}F

Radioactive beams of $^{14}$O and $^{15}$O were used to populate the resonant states 1/2$^+$, 5/2$^+$ and $0^-,1^-,2^-$ in the unbound $^{15}$F and $^{16}$F nuclei respectively by means of proton elastic scattering reactions in inverse kinematics. Based on their large proton spectroscopic factor values, the resonant states in $^{16}$F can be viewed as a core of $^{14}$O plus a proton in the 2s$_{1/2}$ or 1d$_{5/2}$ shell and a neutron in 1p$_{1/2}$. Experimental energies were used to derive the strength of the 2s$_{1/2}$-1p$_{1/2}$ and 1d$_{5/2}$-1p$_{1/2}$ proton-neutron interactions. It is found that the former changes by 40% compared with the mirror nucleus $^{16}$N, and the second by 10%. This apparent symmetry breaking of the nuclear force between mirror nuclei finds explanation in the role of the large coupling to the continuum for the states built on an $\ell=0$ proton configuration.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication as a regular article in Physical Review

The beta-decay of 22Al

In an experiment performed at the LISE3 facility of GANIL, we studied the decay of 22Al produced by the fragmentation of a 36Ar primary beam. A beta-decay half-life of 91.1 +- 0.5 ms was measured. The beta-delayed one- and two-proton emission as well as beta-alpha and beta-delayed gamma decays were measured and allowed us to establish a partial decay scheme for this nucleus. New levels were determined in the daughter nucleus 22Mg. The comparison with model calculations strongly favours a spin-parity of 4+ for the ground state of 22Al