Experimental measurements of evaporation residue (ER) cross sections for the 19 F + 194,196,198 Pt reactions forming 213,215,217 Fr compound nuclei are reported. The cross sections are measured at beam energies in the range of 101-137.3 MeV. The survival probability of the 213 Fr compound nucleus with neutron number N = 126 is found to be lower than the survival probabilities of 215 Fr and 217 Fr with neutron numbers N = 128 and 130 respectively. Statistical model analysis of the ER cross sections show that an excitation energy dependent scaling of the finite-range rotating liquid drop model fission barrier is necessary to fit the experimental data. The fitted scaling factors for 213 Fr are found to be smaller than those of 215 Fr and 217 Fr for almost the entire range of excitation energies.
This work presents the production and extraction of the short-lived radionuclide 6 He in yet unmatched yields from the ISOLDE facility at CERN. It is the first report of 6 He production using spallation neutrons via the 9 Be(n, α) 6 He reaction. These neutrons are produced from the 1.4 GeV proton beam of the Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB) striking a tungsten converter, and are impinging on a porous BeO material. The central position of 6 He in future experiments is due to its role as a necessary radioactive nucleus to realize the β-beam at CERN, a next-generation facility to study neutrino oscillation parameters, and hence neutrino masses. In the β-beam scenario, an intense beam of radioactive 6 He nuclei will be produced, accelerated to multi-GeV energies and stored in a dedicated storage ring. The resulting virtually mono-directional anti-neutrino beam from the decay of the stored 6 He nuclei will be directed towards a remote underground neutrino detector. A similar beam of, e.g., 18 Ne will provide neutrinos, an ideal concept to test CP violation in the neutrino sector. The results of the present experiment demonstrate for the first time that the necessary conditions for the realization of the proposed β-beam scheme with anti-neutrinos can be fulfilled.
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