First hint on a change of the 210Po alpha-decay half-life in the metal Cu

Raiola, F.; Spillane, T.; Limata, B.; Wang, B.; Yan, S. Q.; Aliotta, M.; Becker, Hans‐Werner; Cruz, J.; Fonseca, M.; Gialanella, L.; Jesus, A.P.; Kettner, K. U.; Kunze, Rolf-Ulrich; Luís, H.; Ribeiro, Joana Sousa; Rolfs, C.; Romano, M.; Schürmann, D.; Strieder, F.

doi:10.1140/epja/i2007-10012-8

Cited by 38 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…No dependency on the solid-state environment and temperature of this α decaying isotope is observed up to a level of 1 × 10 −3 , which is at variance with the reported 6% change of the activity of 213 Po nuclei implanted in Cu at 12 K [4]. Our result supports the theoretical calculations of [15], which predicted no significant change of the half-life.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…The half-life of α-decaying 210 Po implanted in copper was reported to shorten by 6.3(14)% when cooled down to 12 K [4], the half-life of β + -decaying 22 Na embedded in Pd was observed to be 1.2(2)% shorter at 12 K [5], the half-life of β − -decaying 198 Au embedded in Au was observed to be 4(2)% longer at 12 K [6], and for 7 Be [electron capture (EC)] decay), an increase of about 1% was reported [7]. Note that electron capture decay rates may depend on the material hosting the radioactive isotope via small modifications of the electron density around the EC-decaying nucleus (see, e.g., [8] and references therein).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this type of experiment, radioactive isotopes are implanted in a metallic foil, typically Fe, and cooled to millikelvin temperatures. It was claimed [4,6] that no appreciable effect on nuclear half-lives can be observed in LTNO experiments, as the radioactive ions implanted at typically 60 keV would end up in the oxidized surface layer of the sample foil, which acts as an insulator. This claim is clearly incorrect as the LTNO technique is precisely based on the fact that the radioactive nuclei end up at substitutional sites in a pure bcc Fe lattice, where they experience a unique hyperfine interaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Half-life ofFr221in Si and Au at 4 K and at millikelvin temperatures

et al. 2010

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The half-life of the α-decaying nucleus 221 Fr was determined in different environments, that is, embedded in Si at 4 K, and embedded in Au at 4 K and about 20 mK. No differences in half-life for these different conditions were observed within 0.1%. Furthermore, we quote a value for the absolute half-life of 221 Fr of t 1/2 = 286.1(10) s that is of comparable precision to the most precise value available in the literature.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Half-life ofFr221in Si and Au at 4 K and at millikelvin temperatures

et al. 2010

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“…The effect can be explained by the plasma model of Debye applied to the quasi-free electrons in the metallic samples [298,299]. There is an indication of such an effect for alpha active 210 Po [300,301]. However, there are also theoretical considerations where the effect is considered to be very small, if present at all [302].…”

Section: Prospects For Future Experiments and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental searches for rare alpha and beta decays

et al. 2019

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The current status of the experimental searches for rare alpha and beta decays is reviewed. Several interesting observations of alpha and beta decays, previously unseen due to their large half-lives (10 15 − 10 20 yr), have been achieved during the last years thanks to the improvements in the experimental techniques and to the underground locations of experiments that allows to suppress backgrounds. In particular, the list includes first observations of alpha decays of 151 Eu, 180 W (both to the ground state of the daughter nuclei), 190 Pt (to excited state of the daughter nucleus), 209 Bi (to the ground and excited states of the daughter nucleus). The isotope 209 Bi has the longest known half-life of T 1/2 ≈ 10 19 yr relatively to alpha decay. The beta decay of 115 In to the first excited state of 115 Sn (Eexc = 497.334 keV), recently observed for the first time, has the Q β value of only (147 ± 10) eV, which is the lowest Q β value known to-date. Searches and investigations of other rare alpha and beta decays ( 48 Ca, 50 V, 96 Zr, 113 Cd, 123 Te, 178m2 Hf, 180m Ta and others) are also discussed.

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“…decay rates of 238 U and 232 Th [4]). Possible applications to nuclear waste management have been emphasised [3,5,6] in connection to a potentially significant increase of the decay rate in metals at low temperature. A possible exploitation of the effect for a direct measurement of the electron screening energy in nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest has also been proposed [2,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alpha decay in electron environments of increasing density: From the bare nucleus to compressed matter

Belloni

2016

Eur. Phys. J. A

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The influence of the electron environment on the α decay is elucidated. Within the frame of a simple model based on the generalized Thomas-Fermi theory of the atom, it is shown that the increase of the electron density around the parent nucleus drives a mechanism which shortens the lifetime. Numerical results are provided for 144 Nd, 154 Yb and 210 Po. Depending on the nuclide, fractional lifetime reduction relative to the bare nucleus is of the order of 0.1÷1% in free ions, neutral atoms and ordinary matter, but may reach up to 10% at matter densities as high as 10 4 g/cm 3 , in a high-Z matrix. The effect induced by means of state-of-the-art compression techniques, although much smaller than previously found, would however be measurable. The extent of the effect in ultra-high-density stellar environments might become significant and would deserve further investigation.

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First hint on a change of the 210Po alpha-decay half-life in the metal Cu

Cited by 38 publications

References 10 publications

Half-life ofFr221in Si and Au at 4 K and at millikelvin temperatures

Half-life ofFr221in Si and Au at 4 K and at millikelvin temperatures

Experimental searches for rare alpha and beta decays

Alpha decay in electron environments of increasing density: From the bare nucleus to compressed matter

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