M. Huhta

Status report of the Jyvaskyla ion guide isotope separator on-line facility

The ion guide isotope separator facility IGISOL of the University of Jyvaskyla has been moved to the new K-130 heavy ion cyclotron laboratory. The totally reconstructed facility is described in detail. The primary beams and targets, helium pumping, separator beam line construction and separator beam diagnostics are discussed. The spectroscopy stations are introduced with illustrative examples from the research program, including beta-delayed proton and neutron spectroscopy, gamma-ray spectroscopy with and without arrays, conversion electron spectroscopy, collinear laser spectroscopy and nuclear level lifetime spectroscopy.

β-delayed neutron decay of 104Y, 112Tc, 113Tc and 114Tc: test of half-life predictions for neutron-rich isotopes of refractory elements

Abstract Beta-decay gross properties of neutron-rich isotopes 104Y and 112,113,114Tc produced in 25 MeV proton-induced fission of 238U have been measured. Decays of 104Y with a half-life of 180±60 ms and of 114Tc with a half-life of 150±30 ms are reported for the first time. Beta-delayed neutron emission probabilities of 112,113,114Tc are determined as (1.5±0.2)%, (2.1±0.3)% and (1.3±0.4)%, respectively. Comparison of the observed Pn values with a recent theoretical calculation based on deformed quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) shows good overall agreement for Tc isotopes. However, comparison of beta-decay half-lives of neutron-rich isotopes of Y to Rh with the QRPA model and the refined gross theory shows only modest agreement, pointing to inadequate treatment of structure of these very neutron-rich nuclei lying in a region of rapidly changing deformation.

High-resolution study of the beta decay of 41Ti

Abstract An improved high-resolution study of the beta decay of 41 Ti, produced in the 40 Ca( 3 He, 2n) reaction at 40 MeV, has been performed at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line (IGISOL) facility. The beta-delayed radiation was detected by a low-energy charged-particle detector and a large Ge detector for gamma rays. The experimental beta-decay strength and its distribution, extracted from delayed-proton data, are compared with results of shell-model calculations in the sdfp space. The lowest J π = 3 2 + , T = 3 2 state in 41 Sc, the isobaric analogue state of the 41 Ti ground state, is estimated to contain 10% isospin impurity.

Superasymmetric fission at intermediate energy and production of neutron-rich nuclei with A < 80

Abstract The yields of neutron-rich Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga and Ge-isotopes were measured in 25 MeV proton induced fission of 238 U using the ion guide-based isotope separator technique. The results indicate enhancement for superasymmetric mass division at intermediate excitation energy of the fissioning nucleus and show the potential of this reaction for the production of neutron-rich exotic nuclei around Z = 28.

A new pulsed release method for element selective production of neutron rich isotopes near 208Pb

Abstract A new method to reduce the isobaric contamination problem for the production of neutron rich Bi, Pb and Tl nuclei at on-line mass separators, based on the pulsed release of these radioactive species, is presented. The results of a feasibility study are reported.

Improved ion guide for heavy-ion fusion–evaporation reactions

The ion guide for heavy-ion-induced reactions developed originally for the SARA facility in Grenoble has been implemented at the Jyvaskyla IGISOL facility. For the Cd-116(Ar-40, 6n)Dy-150 reaction an efficiency of 0.5% relative to the number of reaction products entering the stopping chamber was obtained. This is 3.5 times higher than previously obtained at SARA and corresponds to a yield of about 100 ions/(p mu C mb). Mass-separated yields for the Ar-36 + Mo-92 and Ar-36 + Mo-94 reactions were measured

First collinear laser spectroscopy measurements of radioisotopes from an IGISOL ion source

Abstract The standard Doppler-free technique of collinear laser spectroscopy has been successfully applied to radioisotopes from the ion-guide isotope separator (IGISOL) at the University of Jyvaskyla. The laser resonance fluorescence signals for the 140,142,144 Ba radioisotopes show that the ion beam energy spread is less than 6 eV, allowing the laser technique to have both high resolution and a sensitivity comparable with the best obtained at conventional facilities.

Independent yields of neutron-rich nuclei in charged-particle induced fission

Abstract Yields of fission products have been studied at the recently upgraded IGISOL facility in Jyvaskyla using 50 MeV H2+ beam (Ep = 25 MeV) and thin natTh and natU targets. The independent yields of fission products in the mass regions A = 99−112 (elements Y, Nb and Tc) and A = 127−134 (elements Sn, Sb and Te) have been obtained. Comparisons of the experimental isotopic distributions with theoretical ones are presented. Enhancement of the production rate of the doubly magic 132Sn is observed in the experimental yield curve.

A thirty second isomer in Hf-171

An isomer has been detected in Hf-171 with a half-life of T-1/2 = 29.5(9) s. The state was populated in the Yb-170(alpha,3n)Hf-171m reaction at a beam energy of E-alpha = 50 MeV in an on-line ion guide isotope separator. The isomeric Hf-17lm(+) beam was extracted from the ion guide, mass-analysed and implanted in the surface of a microchannel-plate. The half-life of the collected activity was measured from the decay of the microchannel-plate count rate. We associate the isomer with the first excited slate in Hf-171 with spin 1/2(-) at an excitation energy of 22(2) keV.

First evidence for the 2+ level in the very neutron-rich nucleus102Sr

Evidence for the 2+ level in102Sr is obtained from theβ-decay of102Rb, mass separated at the ISOLDE facility. The energy of 126 keV and the collectivity of the 2+→0+ transition indicate that102Sr is a strongly deformed rigid rotor. In addition, a sizeable lifetime is measured for the 94 keV transition in102Y.