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B. Bastin

Publications and source records attributed to B. Bastin.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Structure of $^{13}$Be probed via secondary beam reactions

The low-lying level structure of the unbound neutron-rich nucleus $^{13}$Be has been investigated via breakup on a carbon target of secondary beams of $^{14,15}$B at 35 MeV/nucleon. The coincident detection of the beam velocity $^{12}$Be fragments and neutrons permitted the invariant mass of the $^{12}$Be+$n$ and $^{12}$Be+$n$+$n$ systems to be reconstructed. In the case of the breakup of $^{15}$B, a very narrow structure at threshold was observed in the $^{12}$Be+$n$ channel. Contrary to earlier stable beam fragmentation studies which identified this as a strongly interacting $s$-wave virtual state in $^{13}$Be, analysis here of the $^{12}$Be+$n$+$n$ events demonstrated that this was an artifact resulting from the sequential-decay of the $^{14}$Be(2$^+$) state. Single-proton removal from $^{14}$B was found to populate a broad low-lying structure some 0.70 MeV above the neutron-decay threshold in addition to a less prominent feature at around 2.4 MeV. Based on the selectivity of the reaction and a comparison with (0-3)$\hbarω$ shell-model calculations, the low-lying structure is concluded to most probably arise from closely spaced J$^π$=1/2$^+$ and 5/2$^+$ resonances (E$_r$=0.40$\pm$0.03 and 0.85$^{+0.15}_{-0.11}$ MeV), whilst the broad higher-lying feature is a second 5/2$^+$ level (E$_r$=2.35$\pm$0.14 MeV). Taken in conjunction with earlier studies, it would appear that the lowest 1/2$^+$ and 1/2$^-$ levels lie relatively close together below 1 MeV.

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Isotopic distribution of fission fragments in collisions between 238U beam and 9Be and 12C targets at 24 MeV/u

Inverse kinematics coupled to a high-resolution spectrometer is used to investigate the isotopic yields of fission fragments produced in reactions between a 238U beam at 24 MeV/u and 9Be and 12C targets. Mass, atomic number and isotopic distributions are reported for the two reactions. These informations give access to the neutron excess and the isotopic distribution widths, which together with the atomic-number and mass distributions are used to investigate the fusion-fission dynamics.

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Spectroscopy of $^{26}$F to probe proton-neutron forces close to the drip line

A long-lived $J^π=4_1^+$ isomer, $T_{1/2}=2.2(1)$ms, has been discovered at 643.4(1) keV in the weakly-bound $^{26}_{9}$F nucleus. It was populated at GANIL in the fragmentation of a $^{36}$S beam. It decays by an internal transition to the $J^π=1_1^+$ ground state (82(14)%), by $β$-decay to $^{26}$Ne, or beta-delayed neutron emission to $^{25}$Ne. From the beta-decay studies of the $J^π=1_1^+$ and $J^π=4_1^+$ states, new excited states have been discovered in $^{25,26}$Ne. Gathering the measured binding energies of the $J^π=1_1^+-4_1^+$ multiplet in $^{26}_{9}$F, we find that the proton-neutron $π0d_{5/2} ν0d_{3/2}$ effective force used in shell-model calculations should be reduced to properly account for the weak binding of $^{26}_{9}$F. Microscopic coupled cluster theory calculations using interactions derived from chiral effective field theory are in very good agreement with the energy of the low-lying $1_1^+,2_1^+,4_1^+$ states in $^{26}$F. Including three-body forces and coupling to the continuum effects improve the agreement between experiment and theory as compared to the use of two-body forces only.

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Search for Superscreening effect in Superconductor

The decay of $^{19}$O($β^-$) and $^{19}$Ne($β^+$) implanted in niobium in its superconducting and metallic phase was measured using purified radioactive beams produced by the SPIRAL/GANIL facility. Half-lives and branching ratios measured in the two phases are consistent within one-sigma error bar. This measurement casts strong doubts on the predicted strong electron screening in superconductor, the so-called superscreening. The measured difference in screening potential energy is 110(90) eV for $^{19}$Ne and 400(320) eV for $^{19}$O. Precise determinations of the half-lives were obtained for $^{19}$O: 26.476(9) s and $^{19}$Ne: 17.254(5) s.

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Isotopic fission fragment distributions as a deep probe to fusion-fission dynamics

During the fission process, the nucleus deforms and elongates up to the two fragments inception and their final separation at scission deformation. The evolution of the nucleus energy with deformation is determined by the macroscopic properties of the nucleus, and is also strongly influenced by the single-particle structure of the nucleus. The fission fragment distribution is a direct consequence of the deformation path the nucleus has encountered, and therefore is the most genuine experimental observation of the potential energy landscape of the deforming nucleus. Very asymmetric fusion-fission reactions at energy close to the Coulomb barrier, produce well-defined conditions of the compound nucleus formation, where processes such as quasi-fission, pre-equilibrium emission and incomplete fusion are negligible. In the same time, the excitation energy is sufficient to reduce significantly structural effects, and mostly the macroscopic part of the potential is responsible for the formation of the fission fragments. We use inverse kinematics combined with spectrometers to select and identify the fission fragments produced in $^{238}$U+$^{12}$C at a bombarding energy close to and well-above the Coulomb barrier. For the first time, the isotopic yields are measured over the complete atomic-number distribution, between Z=30 and Z=63. The experimental set-up also allows to identify transfer-induced reactions, which lead to low-energy fission where the nuclear shell structure shows a strong influence on the fission-fragment distributions. The resulting set of data gives the possibility to observe the fission fragment properties over a wide range of excitation energy, and they reveal the vanishing of the shell effects in the potential energy of the fissioning nucleus, as well as the influence of fission dynamics.

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In-beam spectroscopic studies of $^{44}$S nucleus

The structure of the $^{44}$S nucleus has been studied at GANIL through the one proton knock-out reaction from a $^{45}$Cl secondary beam at 42 A$\cdot$MeV. The $γ$ rays following the de-excitation of $^{44}$S were detected in flight using the 70 BaF${_2}$ detectors of the Château de Cristal array. An exhaustive $γγ$-coincidence analysis allowed an unambiguous construction of the level scheme up to an excitation energy of 3301 keV. The existence of the spherical 2$^+_2$ state is confirmed and three new $γ$-ray transitions connecting the prolate deformed 2$^+_1$ level were observed. Comparison of the experimental results to shell model calculations further supports a prolate and spherical shape coexistence with a large mixing of states built on the ground state band in $^{44}$S.

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Discovery of the shape coexisting 0+ state in 32Mg by a two neutron transfer reaction

The Island of Inversion nucleus 32Mg has been studied by a (t,p) two neutron transfer reaction in inverse kinematics at REX-ISOLDE. The shape coexistent excited 0+ state in 32Mg has been identified by the characteristic angular distribution of the protons of the DeltaL = 0 transfer. The excitation energy of 1058 keV is much lower than predicted by any theoretical model. The low gamma-ray intensity observed for the decay of this 0+ state indicates a lifetime of more than 10 ns. Deduced spectroscopic amplitudes are compared with occupation numbers from shell model calculations.

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Early onset of ground-state deformation in the neutron-deficient polonium isotopes

In-source resonant ionization laser spectroscopy of the even-$A$ polonium isotopes $^{192-210,216,218}$Po has been performed using the $6p^37s$ $^5S_2$ to $6p^37p$ $^5P_2$ ($λ=843.38$ nm) transition in the polonium atom (Po-I) at the CERN ISOLDE facility. The comparison of the measured isotope shifts in $^{200-210}$Po with a previous data set allows to test for the first time recent large-scale atomic calculations that are essential to extract the changes in the mean-square charge radius of the atomic nucleus. When going to lighter masses, a surprisingly large and early departure from sphericity is observed, which is only partly reproduced by Beyond Mean Field calculations.

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Prolate-Spherical Shape Coexistence at N=28 in $^{44}$S

The structure of $^{44}$S has been studied using delayed $γ$ and electron spectroscopy at \textsc{ganil}. The decay rates of the 0$^+_2$ isomeric state to the 2$^+_1$ and 0$^+_1$ states have been measured for the first time, leading to a reduced transition probability B(E2~:~2$^{+}_1$$\rightarrow$0$^{+}_2)$= 8.4(26)~e$^2$fm$^4$ and a monopole strength $ρ^2$(E0~:~0$^{+}_2$$\rightarrow$0$^{+}_1)$ =~8.7(7)$\times$10$^{-3}$. Comparisons to shell model calculations point towards prolate-spherical shape coexistence and a phenomenological two level mixing model is used to extract a weak mixing between the two configurations.

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The beta-gamma decay of 21Na

A new and independent determination of the Gamow-Teller branching ratio in the beta-decay of 21Na is reported. The value obtained of 5.13 +- 0.43 % is in agreement with the currently adopted value and the most recent measurement. In contrast to previous experiments, the present method was based on the counting of the parent 21Na ions and the resulting 351 keV gamma-rays without coincident beta-particle detection.

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Magnetic dipole moment of 57,59Cu measured by in-gas-cell laser spectroscopy

In-gas-cell laser spectroscopy study of the 57,59,63,65Cu isotopes has been performed for the first time using the 244.164 nm optical transition from the atomic ground state of copper. The nuclear magnetic dipole moments for 57,59,65Cu relative to that of 63Cu have been extracted. The new value for 57Cu of mu(57Cu) = +2.582(7)mu_N is in strong disagreement with the previous literature value but in good agreement with recent theoretical and systematic predictions.

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Collapse of the N=28 shell closure in $^{42}$Si

The energies of the excited states in very neutron-rich $^{42}$Si and $^{41,43}$P have been measured using in-beam $γ$-ray spectroscopy from the fragmentation of secondary beams of $^{42,44}$S at 39 A.MeV. The low 2$^+$ energy of $^{42}$Si, 770(19) keV, together with the level schemes of $^{41,43}$P provide evidence for the disappearance of the Z=14 and N=28 spherical shell closures, which is ascribed mainly to the action of proton-neutron tensor forces. New shell model calculations indicate that $^{42}$Si is best described as a well deformed oblate rotor.

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