H. Savajols

Lifetime of 19 Ne * (4.03 MeV)

The Doppler-shift attenuation method was applied to measure the lifetime of the 4.03 MeV state in {sup 19}Ne. By utilizing a {sup 3}He-implanted Au foil as a target, the state was populated using the {sup 20}Ne({sup 3}He, {alpha}){sup 19}Ne reaction in inverse kinematics at a {sup 20}Ne beam energy of 34 MeV. De-excitation {gamma} rays were detected in coincidence with {alpha} particles. At the 1{sigma} level, the lifetime was determined to be 11{sub -3}{sup +4} fs and at the 95.45% confidence level the lifetime is 11{sub -7}{sup +8} fs.

High-precision branching ratio measurement for the superallowed {beta}{sup +} emitter {sup 62}Ga

A high-precision branching ratio measurement for the superallowed {beta}{sup +} decay of {sup 62}Ga was performed at the Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC) radioactive ion beam facility. The 8{pi} spectrometer, an array of 20 high-purity germanium detectors, was employed to detect the {gamma} rays emitted following Gamow-Teller and nonanalog Fermi {beta}{sup +} decays of {sup 62}Ga, and the SCEPTAR plastic scintillator array was used to detect the emitted {beta} particles. Thirty {gamma} rays were identified following {sup 62}Ga decay, establishing the superallowed branching ratio to be 99.858(8)%. Combined with the world-average half-life and a recent high-precision Q-value measurement for {sup 62}Ga, this branching ratio yields an ft value of 3074.3{+-}1.1 s, making {sup 62}Ga among the most precisely determined superallowed ft values. Comparison between the superallowed ft value determined in this work and the world-average corrected Ft value allows the large nuclear-structure-dependent correction for {sup 62}Ga decay to be experimentally determined from the CVC hypothesis to better than 7% of its own value, the most precise experimental determination for any superallowed emitter. These results provide a benchmark for the refinement of the theoretical description of isospin-symmetry breaking in A{>=}62 superallowed decays.