AGATA Collaboration(Avigo, R. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Gadea, A., & Gonzalez, V. (2020). Low-lying electric dipole gamma-continuum for the unstable Fe-62(,)64 nuclei: Strength evolution with neutron number. Phys. Lett. B, 811, 135951–6pp.
Abstract: The gamma-ray emission from the nuclei Fe-62,Fe-64 following Coulomb excitation at bombarding energy of 400-440 AMeV was measured with special focus on E1 transitions in the energy region 4-8 MeV. The unstable neutron-rich nuclei Fe-62,Fe-64 were produced at the FAIR-GSI laboratories and selected with the FRS spectrometer. The gamma decay was detected with AGATA. From the measured gamma-ray spectra the summed E1 strength is extracted and compared to microscopic quasi-particle phonon model calculations. The trend of the E1 strength with increasing neutron number is found to be fairly well reproduced with calculations that assume a rather complex structure of the 1(-) states (three-phonon states) inducing a strong fragmentation of the E1 nuclear response below the neutron binding energy.
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Boso, A. et al, Domingo-Pardo, C., & Perez-Vidal, R. M. (2019). Isospin dependence of electromagnetic transition strengths among an isobaric triplet. Phys. Lett. B, 797, 134835–6pp.
Abstract: Electric quadrupole matrix elements, M-p, for the J(pi) = 2(+) -> 0(+), Delta T = 0, T = 1 transitions across the A = 46 isobaric multiplet Cr-46-V-46-Ti-46 have been measured at GSI with the FRS-LYCCA-AGATA setup. This allows direct insight into the isospin purity of the states of interest by testing the linearity of M-p with respect to T-z. Pairs of nuclei in the T = 1 triplet were studied using identical reaction mechanisms in order to control systematic errors. The M-p values were obtained with two different methodologies: (i) a relativistic Coulomb excitation experiment was performed for Cr-46 and Ti-46; (ii) a “stretched target” technique was adopted here, for the first time, for lifetime measurements in V-46 and Ti-46. A constant value of M-p across the triplet has been observed. Shell-model calculations performed within the fp shell fail to reproduce this unexpected trend, pointing towards the need of a wider valence space. This result is confirmed by the good agreement with experimental data achieved with an interaction which allows excitations from the underlying sd shell. A test of the linearity rule for all published data on complete T = 1 isospin triplets is presented.
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Guerrero, C., Tessler, M., Paul, M., Lerendegui-Marco, J., Heinitz, S., Maugeri, E. A., et al. (2019). The s-process in the Nd-Pm-Sm region: Neutron activation of Pm-147. Phys. Lett. B, 797, 134809–6pp.
Abstract: The Nd-Pm-Sm branching is of interest for the study of the s-process, related to the production of heavy elements in stars. As Sm-148 and Sm-150 are s-only isotopes, the understanding of the branching allows constraining the s-process neutron density. In this context the key physics input needed is the cross section of the three unstable nuclides in the region: Nd-147 (10.98 d half-life), Pm-147 (2.62 yr) and Pm-148 (5.37 d). This paper reports on the activation measurement of Pm-147, the longest-lived of the three nuclides. The cross section measurement has been carried out by activation at the SARAF LiLiT facility using a 56(2) μg target. Compared to the single previous measurement of Pm-147, the measurement presented herein benefits from a target 2000 times more massive. The resulting Maxwellian Averaged Cross Section (MACS) to the ground and metastable states in Pm-148 are 469(50) mb and 357(27) mb. These values are 41% higher (to the ground state) and 15% lower (to the metastable state) than the values reported so far, leading however to a total cross section of 826(107) mb consistent within uncertainties with the previous result and hence leaving unchanged the previous calculation of the s-process neutron density.
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Mendoza, E., Alcayne, V., Cano-Ott, D., Gonzalez-Romero, E., Martinez, T., de Rada, A. P., et al. (2023). Neutron capture measurements with high efficiency detectors and the Pulse Height Weighting Technique. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 1047, 167894–16pp.
Abstract: Neutron capture cross section measurements in time-of-flight facilities are usually performed by detecting the prompt 7-rays emitted in the capture reactions. One of the difficulties to be addressed in these measurements is that the emitted 7-rays may change with the neutron energy, and therefore also the detection efficiency. To deal with this situation, many measurements use the so called Total Energy Detection (TED) technique, usually in combination with the Pulse Height Weighting Technique (PHWT). With it, it is sought that the detection efficiency depends only on the total energy of the 7-ray cascade, which does not vary much with the neutron energy. This technique was developed in the 1960s and has been used in many neutron capture experiments to date. One of the requirements of the technique is that 7-ray detectors have a low efficiency. This has meant that the PHWT has been used with experimental setups with low detection efficiencies. However, this condition does not have to be fulfilled by the experimental system as a whole. The main goal of this work is to show that it is possible to measure with a high efficiency detection system that uses the PHWT, and how to analyze the measured data.
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Chiera, N. M., Maugeri, E. A., Danilov, I., Balibrea-Correa, J., Domingo-Pardo, C., Koster, U., et al. (2022). Preparation of PbSe targets for Se-79 neutron capture cross section studies. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 1029, 166443–7pp.
Abstract: A methodology for the production of PbSe targets for Se-79 neutron capture cross section studies is presented. PbSe material was synthesized by direct reaction of its constituents at high temperature, and characterized by X-ray diffraction. Thin PbSe targets, produced for cross section experiments with the surrogate reaction method, were obtained by applying a physical vapor deposition technique, and their morphology and composition were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. (PbSe)-Se-79 targets produced for cross section measurements with the Time of Flight method were characterized by gamma-ray spectroscopy. Finally, a procedure for the recovery of Se from PbSe is suggested. The purity of the retrieved Se was determined with Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy.
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