Nuclear Structure Studies from Hg and Au Alpha Decay Chains
Abstract
Neutron deficient nuclei near the Z = 82 shell gap have been a source of great interest. This region is known to exhibit the phenomena of shape-coexistence and triaxiality. Alpha decay study of these nuclei coupled with gamma-rayspectroscopy data can give a better understanding of their nuclear structure properties. The decay chains of ^173-177Au and ^175-179Hg were studied following the bombardment of ^92,94,96Mo targets with ^84Sr beam from the ATLAS accelerator at the Argonne National Laboratory. The experiment utilized the Gammasphere array in conjunction with the Fragment Mass Analyzer (FMA) for mass identification and a Double-sided Silicon Strip Detector (DSSD) that was used to detect the recoiling implants and the alpha particles associated with each nuclide. An array of four Ge detectors and a low-energy photon spectrometer (LEPS) was used at the focal plane of the FMA to detect γ rays in coincidence with the α particles. This information was used to elucidate the α-decay fine structures. Inverse radioactive decay tagging was also useful in assigning certain fine structure α peaks to a particular nuclide. New α decay lines were observed and their energies, and half-lives were measured. These include fine structure lines in the α decays of ^174,176Au and ^173Pt. The decay schemes resulting from the fine structure observations will be presented. The α decay reduced widths are used to suggest spin and parity assignments. The structure of these states will be discussed in the framework of the Nilsson model and alpha decay selection rules. * This work is supported by the Department of Energy through contract numbers DE-FG02-96ER40983 (UT), W-31-109-ENG-38 (ANL), DE-FG02-95ER40939 (MSU), DE-FG05-88ER40406 (WU), and by the National Science Foundation (RU
- Publication:
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APS April Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- April 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003APS..APRT10006G