P. Joshi

Evidence for chiral structures in 130Cs

Two low lying positive-parity bands in 130Cs have been examined for chiral signatures. Small energy differences between the two bands, which have been previously observed, have been confirmed and the bands, as well as the number of transitions within and between the bands, extended. The intraband B(M1)/B(E2) ratios and B(M1)intraband/B(M1)interband ratios and the energy staggering parameter, S(I), have been deduced for these partner bands. The results are found to be consistent with a chiral interpretation for the two structures. Core–quasiparticle coupling model calculations have been performed to study 130Cs assuming a triaxial core. The experimental level energies and electromagnetic properties of the bands, resulting from the configuration, are reasonably well reproduced by the model, providing further evidence in support of the chiral interpretation of the two structures.

Spectroscopy of proton-rich 66^Se up to J^π = 6^+: isospin-breaking effect in the A = 66 isobaric triplet

Candidates for three excited states in the 66^Se have been identified using the recoil-{\beta} tagging method together with a veto detector for charged-particle evaporation channels. These results allow a comparison of mirror and triplet energy differences between analogue states across the A = 66 triplet as a function of angular momentum. The extracted triplet energy differences follow the negative trend observed in the f_7/2 shell. Shell-model calculations indicate a continued need for an additional isospin non-conserving interaction in addition to the Coulomb isotensor part as a function of mass.

Evidence for shape coexistence at medium spin in 76Rb

Four previously known rotational bands in Rb-76 have been extended to moderate spins using the Gammasphere and Microball gamma ray and charged particle detector arrays and the Ca-40(Ca-40,3pn) reaction at a beam energy of 165 MeV. The properties of two of the negative-parity bands can only readily be interpreted in terms of the highly successful Cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky model calculations if they have the same configuration in terms of the number of g(9/2) particles, but they result from different nuclear shapes (one near-oblate and the other near-prolate). These data appear to constitute a unique example of shape coexisting structures at medium spins

γ -ray linear polarization measurements and (g9/2) −3 neutron alignment in 91Ru

The authors would like to thank the operators of the GANIL cyclotrons for providing the 36Ar beam. We would also like to thank the EXOGAM Collaboration for use of the clover Ge detector array, the DIAMANT Collaboration for use of the charged particle detector system, and the European gamma-ray Spectroscopy Pool for use of the neutron detector system. We acknowledge funding support from the French-Polish LEA COPIGAL and the IN2P3-Polish laboratories COPIN Agreement No. 06-122, from the UK STFC, from the Swedish Research Council (Contracts No. 2007-4067 and No. 2008-5793), from the Goran Gustafsson Foundation, from the OTKA under Contract No. K100835, and from the Bolyai Janos Foundation. AG has been supported by the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain, under Grant No. PROMETEO/2010/101 and by MINECO, Spain, under Grants No. AIC-D-2011-0746 and No. FPA2011-29854. AJ acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion under Contract No. FPA2011-29854-C04. ZY acknowledges the support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

High-spin structure in K-40

High-spin states of K-40 have been populated in the fusion-evaporation reaction C-12(Si-30,np)K-40 and studied by means of gamma-ray spectroscopy techniques using one triple-cluster detector of the ...

Evidence for a new region of chirality around A ∼ 104

Chirality in atomic nuclei is a direct consequence of the existence of triaxial nuclear shapes. This phenomenon is known to exist in the A ~ 130 region. We have now observed several pair of bands built upon the negative parity configuration, πg−19/2 ⊗ νh11/2, in Rh and Tc isotopes in the A ~ 104 region which can be understood in terms of the phenomenon of chiral symmetry breaking. Results of the search for chiral bands in 106Ag are presented in the current paper.

Enhancing the sensitivity of recoil-beta tagging

Tagging with β-particles at the focal plane of a recoil separator has been shown to be an effective technique for the study of exotic proton-rich nuclei. This article describes three new pieces of apparatus used to greatly improve the sensitivity of the recoil-beta tagging technique. These include a highly-pixelated double-sided silicon strip detector, a plastic phoswich detector for discriminating high-energy β-particles, and a charged-particle veto box. The performance of these new detectors is described and characterised, and the resulting improvements are discussed.

γ‐ray Spectroscopy of Proton Drip‐Line Nuclei in the A∼130 Region using SPIRAL beams

A fusion‐evaporation experiment has been performed with a SPIRAL 76Kr radioactive beam in order to study the deformation of rare‐earth nuclei near the proton drip‐line. The experimental setup consisted in the EXOGAM γ‐array, coupled to the light‐charged particles (LCP) DIAMANT detector and to the VAMOS heavy‐ion spectrometer. The difficulties inherent to such measurements are enlightened. The coupling between EXOGAM and DIAMANT has been used to decrease the huge background caused by the radioactivity of the beam. It further permits assigning new γ‐ray transitions to specific residual nuclei. A γ‐ray belonging to the 130Pm level scheme has thus been observed for the first time.

Probing the maximally deformed light rare-earth region around the drip-line nucleus 130Sm

The neutron deficient rare-earth nuclei of the A~130 region are of particular interest since highly deformed prolate ground states are expected. Indeed these nuclei are predicted to show maximal ground-state deformations of β2 ~ 0.40 (axis ratio of 3:2), comparable to the deformation deduced for superdeformed cerium isotopes at high spin. A fusion–evaporation experiment was performed with radioactive ion beams at GANIL in October 2004 which had the goal to reach very proton-rich exotic nuclei located near the proton drip-line. A radioactive 76Kr beam, delivered by the SPIRAL facility, was used to bombard a thin 58Ni target. Emitted γ-rays were detected by the EXOGAM γ-ray spectrometer which was, for the first time, coupled with both the DIAMANT charged-particle array and the VAMOS spectrometer.

{gamma}-Spectroscopy and Radioactive Beams: How To Perform Channel Selection ?

An experiment has been performed using a SPIRAL 76Kr radioactive beam at GANIL to investigate rare‐earth nuclei near the proton drip‐line. The EXOGAM gamma array was coupled with the DIAMANT light charged‐particle detector and the VAMOS spectrometer. We report here on the powerful of this setup to extract fusion‐evaporation γ‐rays from a large beam contamination.