α decay studies of the nuclides 195Rn and 196Rn

The new neutron deficient nuclide ¹⁹⁵Rn and the nuclide ¹⁹⁶Rn have been produced in fusion evaporation reactions using ⁵⁶Fe ions on ¹⁴²Nd targets. A gas-filled recoil separator was used to separate the fusion products from the scattered beam. The activities were implanted in a position sensitive silicon detector. The isotopes were identified using spatial and time correlations between implants and decays. Two α decaying isomeric states, with E_α=7536(11) keV [T_1/2=(6⁺³_-2) ms] for the ground state and E_α=7555(11)keV [T_1/2=(5⁺³_-2) ms] for an isomeric state were identified in ¹⁹⁵Rn. In addition, the half-life and α decay energy of ¹⁹⁶Rn were measured with improved precision. The reduced widths deduced for the neutron deficient even-mass Rn isotopes suggest an onset of substantial deformation at N=110.