Exploring the boundaries of the nuclear landscape: $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-decay properties of $^{211}\mathrm{Pa}$

Exploring the boundaries of the nuclear landscape: $α$ -decay properties of ${}^{211}{Pa}$

K. Auranen et al.

Phys. Rev. C 102, 034305 – Published 3 September 2020

Abstract

Employing the recoil ion transport unit (RITU) and a fusion-evaporation reaction, the $α$ decay of ${}^{211}{Pa}$ has been identified via the implantation-decay correlation technique through observation of chains up to four consecutive decays. An $α$ -particle energy and half-life of 8320(40) keV and $3 . 8_{- 1.4}^{+ 4.6}$ ms, respectively, were measured, corresponding to favored $α$ decay. In addition, more precise $α$ -decay properties of ${}^{212}{Pa}$ and ${}^{213}{Pa}$ were obtained due to accumulated statistics. The present data were compared to those predicted by selected atomic mass models and it was used to estimate the possibility of observing proton emission from these isotopes.

Received 23 June 2020
Accepted 17 August 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.102.034305

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Alpha decay Binding energy & masses Lifetimes & widths Nuclear binding Nuclear spin & parity Nuclear structure & decays Proton emission Rare & new isotopes

190 ≤ A ≤ 219

Radiation detectors Spectrometers & spectroscopic techniques

Nuclear Physics

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Vol. 102, Iss. 3 — September 2020

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Figure 1
(a) MWPC vetoed $α$ -particle energy spectrum obtained during a calibration run. Activities marked with an asterisk were used to gainmatch the individual strips of the DSSD. (b) Energy spectrum of the recoil-correlated $α$ particles recorded during phase 5 (see Table 1) of the experiment.
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Figure 2
The $α$ -particle energy and the decay-time distributions of the correlated $α$ -decay chains starting from the protactinium isotopes observed in the present study. The dashed lines on the left-hand side denote the literature values for the $α$ -particle energy of the given isotope, while the solid lines on the right-hand side are the decay-time probability density distributions corresponding to the extracted half-life (Decay 1) or to those given in the literature (Decays 2–4). $α$ -particle energies obtained from an escape event observed in the PIN diodes via an add-back procedure are indicated with hollow symbols. On the chain marked with an asterisk, a $β^{+}$ decay or electron capture has occurred between the $α$ decays number 3 and 4, hence, the decay energy should be compared to that of ${}^{200}{Po}$ , which is indicated with another dashed line. See also the Appendix for the numerical data of the individual decay events.
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Figure 3
$α$ -decay $Q$ values obtained in this study (hollow symbols) compared to the systematics of the nearby isotopes (solid symbols, AME2016 [42]).
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Figure 4
One- [(a) actinium, (b) protactinium] and two-proton separation energies [(c) thorium] near the one-proton dripline. The experimental data points extracted from the mass-excesses of this study are indicated with the hollow symbols, while those of the atomic mass evaluation (AME2016, [42]) are given with solid symbols. Predictions of selected nuclear-mass models (Liran-Zeldes [46], FRDM2012 [47], and KTUY05 [45]) are plotted with solid lines. The line labeled EDF represents the average of six models [3] based on different energy-density functionals (SkM* [49], SkP [50], SLy4 [51], SV-min [52], UNEDF0 [53], and UNEDF1 [54]). The EDF values were obtained using the Mass explorer interface [55].
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Figure 5
One-proton separation energies of the protactinium isotopes obtained in this study, or in the AME2016 mass evaluation [42]. The solid line is a liquid-drop model fit to the proton bound data points (solid symbols), extrapolated over the region of the known isotopes beyond the proton dripline (hollow symbols). The shaded area indicates the uncertainties of the fitted function.
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Physical Review C

covering nuclear physics

Exploring the boundaries of the nuclear landscape: $α$ -decay properties of ${}^{211}{Pa}$

K. Auranen et al.

Phys. Rev. C 102, 034305 – Published 3 September 2020

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Physical Review C

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Exploring the boundaries of the nuclear landscape: α-decay properties of Pa211

K. Auranen et al.

Phys. Rev. C 102, 034305 – Published 3 September 2020

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Exploring the boundaries of the nuclear landscape: $α$ -decay properties of ${}^{211}{Pa}$