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Competing configurations, assigned with three different shapes, are mixed at low angular momentum in the neutron-deficient 188Pb nucleus. Here, we present a simultaneous conversion electron and γ-ray in-beam spectroscopic precision measurement employing the sage spectrometer. The level energy of the first excited state, 02+, has been determined at 591(1)keV through direct measurement of conversion electrons. By using the intensity of the observed 02+→01+ transition to the ground state, the feeding of the 02+ state has been determined for the first time, which suggests the 02+ state is the head of the predominantly prolate band. The compositions of the 42+→41+ and 22+→21+ inter-band transitions have been determined, indicating configuration mixing between the bands.

This letter reports on the first observation of an octupole band in the neutron-deficient (N=Z+2) nucleus 110Xe. The 110Xe nuclei were produced via the 54Fe(58Ni,2n) fusion-evaporation reaction. The emitted γ rays were detected using the jurogam 3 γ-ray spectrometer, while the fusion-evaporation residues were separated with the MARA separator at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The experimental observation of the low-lying 3− and 5− states and inter-band E1 transitions between the ground-state band and the octupole band proves the importance of octupole correlations in this region. These new experimental data combined with theoretical calculations using the symmetry-conserving configuration-mixing method, based on a Gogny energy density functional, have been interpreted as an evidence of enhanced octupole correlations in neutron-deficient xenon isotopes.

The radioactivity of 76160Os84 and 74156W82 that lie at the two-proton drip line has been measured in an experiment performed at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä. The 160Os nuclei were produced using fusion-evaporation reactions induced by a beam of 310 MeV 58Ni ions bombarding a 106Cd target. The 160Os ions were separated in flight using the recoil separator MARA and implanted into a double-sided silicon strip detector, which was used to measure their decays. The α decays of the ground state of 160Os (Eα = 7092(15) keV, t1/2 = 97−32+97 μs) and its isomeric state (Eα = 8890(10) keV, t1/2 = 41−9+15 μs) were measured, allowing the excitation energy of the isomer to be determined as 1844(18) keV. These α-decay properties and the excitation energy of the isomer are compared with systematics. The α decays were correlated with subsequent decays to investigate the β decays of the ground state of 156W, revealing that unlike its isotones, both low-lying isomers were populated in its daughter nuclide, 156Ta. An improved value for the half-life of the proton-decaying high-spin isomeric state in 73156Ta83 of 333−22+25 ms was obtained in a separate experiment using the same experimental systems with a 102Pd target. This result was employed to improve the precision of the half-life determined for 156W, which was measured as 157−34+57 ms.

We present the first experimental evidence of the scissors mode in the superheavy nucleus 254No produced in the 208Pb(48Ca, 2nγ))254No reaction. The spectrum of γ rays emitted by the excited 254No nuclei shows an enhanced γ-ray yield for transition energies of ≈2.5 MeV. By measuring the linear polarization properties of the emitted γ rays, we confirm that the transitions in the enhancement region are predominantly of magnetic-dipole character, characteristic for the scissors mode. To further characterize the enhanced γ-ray yield, simulations of the electromagnetic decay of 254No were performed. The observed enhancement is reproduced by including an M1 component in the γ strength function with total strength B(M1↑)=11.8(19)μN2. This is in good agreement with the integrated M1 strength from sum-rule estimates and new calculations within the quasi-particle random-phase approximation presented here. Our results provide a stringent test of phenomenological formulae for the scissors mode currently used in stellar nucleosynthesis calculations. We find that those formulae are not satisfactory, and we recommend using sum-rule estimates assuming a rigid-body moment of inertia instead for describing the scissors mode in superheavy nuclei.

The extremely neutron-deficient isotopes 177,179Au were studied by means of in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy. Specific tagging techniques, α-decay tagging in 177Au and isomer tagging in 179Au, were used for these studies. Feeding of positive-parity, nearly spherical states, which are associated with 2d3/2 and 3s1/2 proton-hole configurations, from the 1i13/2 proton-intruder configuration was observed in 177Au. Such a decay path has no precedent in odd-Au isotopes and it is explained by the effect of mixing of wave functions of the initial state.

Excited states have been identified in the heaviest known even-Z N=84 isotone 158W, which lies in a region of one-proton emitters and the two-proton drip line. The observation of γ-ray transitions feeding the ground state establishes the excitation energy of the yrast 6+ state confirming the spin-gap nature of the α-decaying 8+ isomer. The 8+ isomer is also expected to be unbound to two-proton emission but no evidence for this decay mode was observed. An upper limit for the two-proton decay branch has been deduced as b2p≤ 0.17% at the 90% confidence level. The possibility of observing two-proton emission from multiparticle isomers in nearby nuclides is considered.

The quenching of the experimental spectroscopic factor for proton emission from the short-lived d3/2 isomeric state in 151mLu was a long-standing problem. In the present work, proton emission from this isomer has been reinvestigated in an experiment at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä. The proton-decay energy and half-life of this isomer were measured to be 1295(5) keV and 15.4(8) μs, respectively, in agreement with another recent study. These new experimental data can resolve the discrepancy in the spectroscopic factor calculated using the spherical WKB approximation. Using the R-matrix approach it is found that the proton formation probability indicates no significant hindrance for the proton decay of 151mLu.

The new neutron-deficient nuclei 240Es and 236Bk were synthesised at the gas-filled recoil separator RITU. They were identified by their radioactive decay chains starting from 240Es produced in the fusion–evaporation reaction 209Bi(34S,3n)240Es. Half-lives of 6(2)s and 22−6+13s were obtained for 240Es and 236Bk, respectively. Two groups of α particles with energies Eα=8.19(3)MeV and 8.09(3)MeV were unambiguously assigned to 240Es. Electron-capture delayed fission branches with probabilities of 0.16(6) and 0.04(2) were measured for 240Es and 236Bk, respectively. These new data show a continuation of the exponential increase of ECDF probabilities in more neutron-deficient isotopes.

Excited states have been studied in the deformed proton emitter 113Cs. Gamma-ray transitions have been unambiguously assigned to 113Cs by correlation with its characteristic proton decay, using the method of recoil-decay tagging. Two previously identified rotational bands have been observed and extended to tentative spins of 45/2 and 51/2ħ, with excitation energies over 8 MeV above the lowest state. These are the highest angular momenta and excitation energies observed to date in any nucleus beyond the proton drip-line. Transitions in the bands have been rearranged compared to previous work. A study of aligned angular momenta, in comparison to the predictions of Woods–Saxon cranking calculations, is consistent with the most intense band being based on the πg7/2[422]3/2+ configuration, which would contradict the earlier πh11/2 assignment, and with the second band being based on the πd5/2[420]1/2+ configuration. The data suggest that the band based upon the πh11/2 configuration is not observed. Keywords: Proton decay, Recoil-decay tagging, Gamma-ray spectroscopy, High-spin states, Quasiparticle alignments