Mass measurement of ^80Y by β-γ coincidence spectroscopy

The rp-process has been proposed to account for the nucleosynthesis and terrestrial isotopic abundances of proton-rich nuclei. The path and termination point for this process above ^56Ni is uncertain due to our limited knowledge of nuclear properties, especially masses, near the proton drip line. ^80Y, the β-decay daughter of the waiting-point nucleus ^80Zr, was produced by bombardment of a ^58Ni target with 115 MeV ^28Si at the WNSL, Yale University. Recoil atoms were collected and transported to a shielded environment were β-γ coincidence decay measurements were made using a planar array of 4 clover Ge γ-ray detectors and a plastic scintillator β-ray detector. β-spectrum end-point energies were used to determine a Q_EC value for decay to ^80Sr. Results for ^80Y will be compared with other measurements, that vary over a range of ∼2 MeV, and with Audi-Wapstra systematics. Implications for the rp-process will be discussed.