Two-Proton Correlations in the Decay ofFe45

Abstract

The decay of extremely neutron-deficient 45Fe has been studied in detail by means of a novel type of a gaseous detector employing digital imaging to record tracks of charged particles. The two-proton radioactivity channel was clearly identified. For the first time, the angular and energy correlations between two protons emitted from the nuclear ground state were determined, indicating the genuine three-body character of this decay. The half-life of 45Fe was found to be 2.6+/-0.2 ms and the observed 2p decay branching ratio is 70+/-4%.

Correlated two-proton decay fromC10

“…We repeated the experiment, tripling the statistics, and it is the combined results that we now present. Since the reporting of our initial work, Curtis et al [16] have investigated 10 C states via inelastic scattering at E/A = 30 MeV [15]. Their work suggests a level at 4.2 MeV, which they speculate is the long sought after excited 0 + 2 state.…”

“…The decay of 10 C excited states to the 2p + 2α exit channel has been studied using inelastic excitation of a secondary 10 C beam. The decay sequences leading to the 2p + 2α final state are determined for the previously known levels and for a newly found level at E * = 8.4 MeV.…”

“…The Texas A&M University K500 cyclotron facility was used to produce 200 pnA of 10 B at E/A = 15.0 MeV. Enriched carborane (C 2 [ 10 B 10 ]H 12 ) was used as the source material.…”

“…Excellent cases for sequential decay (e.g., 12 O [4]) and nearly uniform sampling of three-body phase space (e.g., 6 Be g.s. [5][6][7], 16 Ne, 19 Mg [8,9], and 45 Fe [10]) exist. The 45 Fe case is a beautiful example of the single-particle orbital angular momentum of the protons in the parent being impressed on the three-body dynamics [10].…”

“…[5][6][7], 16 Ne, 19 Mg [8,9], and 45 Fe [10]) exist. The 45 Fe case is a beautiful example of the single-particle orbital angular momentum of the protons in the parent being impressed on the three-body dynamics [10]. On the other hand, the evidence for 1 S correlated 2p emission is poor.…”