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Superallowed α Decay to Doubly Magic Sn100

K. Auranen, D. Seweryniak, M. Albers, A. D. Ayangeakaa, S. Bottoni, M. P. Carpenter, C. J. Chiara, P. Copp, H. M. David, D. T. Doherty, J. Harker, C. R. Hoffman, R. V. F. Janssens, T. L. Khoo, S. A. Kuvin, T. Lauritsen, G. Lotay, A. M. Rogers, J. Sethi, C. Scholey, R. Talwar, W. B. Walters, P. J. Woods, and S. Zhu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 182501 – Published 30 October 2018
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Abstract

We report the first observation of the Xe108Te104Sn100 α-decay chain. The α emitters, Xe108 [Eα=4.4(2)MeV, T1/2=5823+106μs] and Te104 [Eα=4.9(2)MeV, T1/2<18  ns], decaying into doubly magic Sn100 were produced using a fusion-evaporation reaction Fe54(Ni58,4n)Xe108, and identified with a recoil mass separator and an implantation-decay correlation technique. This is the first time α radioactivity has been observed to a heavy self-conjugate nucleus. A previous benchmark for study of this fundamental decay mode has been the decay of Po212 into doubly magic Pb208. Enhanced proton-neutron interactions in the N=Z parent nuclei may result in superallowed α decays with reduced α-decay widths significantly greater than that for Po212. From the decay chain, we deduce that the α-reduced width for Xe108 or Te104 is more than a factor of 5 larger than that for Po212.

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  • Received 31 July 2018
  • Revised 7 September 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.182501

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Nuclear Physics

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The Fastest Alpha Emitter

Published 30 October 2018

The detection of unusually fast alpha emission from a heavy isotope could lead to new ways of testing the nuclear shell model.

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Authors & Affiliations

K. Auranen1,*, D. Seweryniak1, M. Albers1, A. D. Ayangeakaa1,†, S. Bottoni1,‡, M. P. Carpenter1, C. J. Chiara1,2,§, P. Copp1,3, H. M. David1,∥, D. T. Doherty4,¶, J. Harker1,2, C. R. Hoffman1, R. V. F. Janssens5,6, T. L. Khoo1, S. A. Kuvin1,7, T. Lauritsen1, G. Lotay8, A. M. Rogers1,**, J. Sethi1,2, C. Scholey9, R. Talwar1, W. B. Walters2, P. J. Woods4, and S. Zhu1

  • 1Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
  • 2Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
  • 3Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854, USA
  • 4University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, United Kingdom
  • 5Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA
  • 6Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA
  • 7Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
  • 8University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, United Kingdom
  • 9Department of Physics, University of Jyvaskyla, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyvaskyla, Finland

  • *kauranen@anl.gov
  • Present address: Department of Physics, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland 21402, USA.
  • Present address: Universitá degli Studi di Milano and INFN, Via Celoria 16, I-20133 Milano, Italy.
  • §Present address: U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, Maryland 20783, USA.
  • Present address: GSI, Planckstraße 1, D-64291, Darmstadt, Germany.
  • Present address: University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, United Kingdom.
  • **Present address: Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854, USA.

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Issue

Vol. 121, Iss. 18 — 2 November 2018

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