Decay properties of the new isotopes [sup 172]Hg and [sup 173]Hg

• Published in: Physical review. C, Nuclear physics Nuclear physics, 1999-09, Vol.60:3
• Main Authors: Seweryniak, D., Uusitalo, J., Carpenter, M.P., Nisius, D., Davids, C.N., Brown, L.T., Henderson, D.J., Janssens, R.V., Conticchio, L., Walters, W.B., Bingham, C.R., Wauters, J., Woods, P.J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 663210 - Ground-State Radioactivity- (1992-); ALPHA DECAY; BARYONS; BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES; DECAY; ELEMENTARY PARTICLES; FERMIONS; HADRONS; HALF-LIFE; INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI; ISOTOPES; KRYPTON 78 TARGET; KRYPTON 80 TARGET; MERCURY ISOTOPES; MILLISEC LIVING RADIOISOTOPES; NEUTRONS; NUCLEAR DECAY; NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; NUCLEI; NUCLEONS; ODD-ODD NUCLEI; RADIOISOTOPES; RUBIDIUM 96; RUBIDIUM ISOTOPES; TARGETS; YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
• ISSN: 0556-2813; 1089-490X
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.60.031304

The [alpha] decays of the two neutron-deficient nuclei [sup 172]Hg and [sup 173]Hg were observed for the first time using the [sup 78]Kr([sup 96]Ru,2n) and [sup 80]Kr([sup 96]Ru,3n) reactions, respectively. The reaction products were dispersed according to their mass-to-charge state ratios in the Argonne Fragment Mass Analyzer and implanted in a double-sided silicon strip detector, where their subsequent decays were studied using spatial and time correlations between implants and decays. A half-life of 250([sub [minus]90][sup +350]) [mu]s and an energy of 7350(12) keV were deduced for the [alpha] decay of [sup 172]Hg. In [sup 173]Hg the half-life was measured to be 0.93([sub [minus]0.26][sup +0.57]) ms and the corresponding energy is 7211(11) keV. In addition, the half-life and energy of the [alpha] decay of [sup 174]Hg were measured more precisely. The reduced widths deduced for these Hg isotopes indicate that the observed decays correspond to unhindered [Delta]l=0 transitions. The [alpha]-decay [ital Q] values are compared with the values calculated using mass tables by M[umlt o]ller and Nix, and by Liran and Zeldes. The latter mass tables show better agreement with the data. [copyright] [ital 1999] [ital The American Physical Society]