Abstract: In an experiment with the BigRIPS separator at the RIKEN Nishina Center, we observed two-proton (2p) emission from Kr-67. At the same time, no evidence for 2p emission of Ge-59 and Se-63, two other potential candidates for this exotic radioactivity, could be observed. This observation is in line with Q value predictions which pointed to Kr-67 as being the best new candidate among the three for two-proton radioactivity. Kr-67 is only the fourth 2p ground-state emitter to be observed with a half-life of the order of a few milliseconds. The decay energy was determined to be 1690(17) keV, the 2p emission branching ratio is 37(14)%, and the half-life of Kr-67 is 7.4(30) ms.

Abstract: Search for a new kind of superfluidity built on collective proton-neutron pairs with aligned spin is performed studying the Gamow-Teller decay of the T = 1, J(pi) = 0(+) ground state of Ge-62 into excited states of the odd-odd N = Z nucleus Ga-62. The experiment is performed at GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Shwerionenforshung with the Ge-62 ions selected by the fragment separator and implanted in a stack of Si-strip detectors, surrounded by the RISING Ge array. A half-life of T-1/2 = 2 82.9(14) ms is measured for the Ge-62 ground state. Six excited states of Ga-62, populated below 2.5 MeV through Gamow-Teller transitions, are identified. Individual Gamow-Teller transition strengths agree well with theoretical predictions of the interacting shell model and the quasiparticle random phase approximation. The absence of any sizable low-lying Gamow-Teller strength in the reported beta-decay experiment supports the hypothesis of a negligible role of coherent T = 0 proton-neutron correlations in Ga-62.

Abstract: The ss decays of the ground state (gs) and isomeric state (m) of Y-96 have been studied with the total absorption gamma-ray spectroscopy technique at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility. The separation of the 8(+) isomeric state from the 0(-) ground state was achieved thanks to the purification capabilities of the JYFLTRAP double Penning trap system. The ss-intensity distributions of both decays have been independently determined. In the analyses the deexcitation of the 1581.6 keV level in Zr-96, in which conversion electron emission competes with pair production, has been carefully considered and found to have significant impact on the ss-detector efficiency, influencing the ss-intensity distribution obtained. Our results for Y-96gs (0(-)) confirm the large ground state to ground state ss-intensity probability, although a slightly larger value than reported in previous studies was obtained, amounting to 96.6(-2.1)(+0.3) % of the total ss intensity. Given that the decay of Y-96gs is the second most important contributor to the reactor antineutrino spectrum between 5 and 7 MeV, the impact of the present results on reactor antineutrino summation calculations has been evaluated. In the decay of Y-96m (8(+)), previously undetected ss intensity in transitions to states above 6 MeV has been observed. This shows the importance of total absorption gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements of ss decays with highly fragmented deexcitation patterns. Y-96m (8(+)) is a major contributor to reactor decay heat in uranium-plutonium and thorium-uranium fuels around 10 s after fission pulses, and the newly measured average ss and gamma energies differ significantly from the previous values in evaluated databases. The discrepancy is far above the previously quoted uncertainties. Finally, we also report on the successful implementation of an innovative total absorption gamma-ray spectroscopy analysis of the module-multiplicity gated spectra, as a first proof of principle to distinguish between decaying states with very different spin-parity values.