Lifetime measurements of excited nuclei through modern nuclear spectroscopy

Abstract

The progressive development of scintillator detectors has made it possible to perform direct electronic lifetime determination up to a few hundred nanoseconds. The 2" by 2" LaBr3:Ce detectors provide a combination of excellent time resolution and good energy resolution. Recently a fast timing array has been commissioned at iThemba LABS, Cape Town consisting of eight 2" by 2" LaBr3:Ce detectors. Test measurements using radioactive sources produced at the laboratory were conducted. Six 2" by 2" LaBr3:Ce detectors were coupled to the AFRODITE array as their rst in-beam experiment. AFRODITE consisted of eight HPGe clover detectors as well as two 3.5" x 8" LaBr3:Ce detectors. A particle telescope was used to select the desired reaction channels. The reactions of interest 45Sc(p,d)44Sc and 45Sc(p, )42Ca were carried out at a beam energy of 27 MeV. The current analysis also investigates the rare earth nucleus 150Gd which was populated through 150Sm( ,4n)150Gd at a beam energy of 48 MeV.