Gamma radiation from the N=Z nucleus <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><mmultiscripts><mrow></mrow><mprescripts></mprescripts><mrow><mn>40</mn></mrow><mrow><mn>80</mn></mrow><mrow></mrow><mrow></mrow></mmultiscripts></mrow></math><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><msub><mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">Zr</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>40</mn></mrow></msub></mrow></math>

C. J. Lister; M. Campbell; A. A. Chishti; W. Gelletly; L. Goettig; R. Moscrop; B. J. Varley; A. N. James; T. Morrison; H. G. Price; J. Simpson; K. Connel; O. Skeppstedt

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.59.1270

Gamma radiation from the N=Z nucleus ${}_{40}^{80}$ ${Zr}_{40}$

C. J. Lister, M. Campbell, A. A. Chishti, W. Gelletly, L. Goettig, R. Moscrop, B. J. Varley, A. N. James, T. Morrison, H. G. Price, J. Simpson, K. Connel, and O. Skeppstedt

Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 1270 – Published 21 September 1987

Abstract

The very neutron-deficient isotope ${}^{80}{Zr}$ was produced in the reaction ${}^{24}{Mg}$ $(^{58}$ Ni, 2n $)^{80}$ Zr at 190 MeV with a cross section of σ=10±5 μb and was identified with the Daresbury Recoil Separator. The observation reflects a fiftyfold increase in sensitivity for in-beam spectroscopy of exotic nuclei. Coincidence measurements between the isolated isotope and prompt gamma radiation allowed the identification of decays from low-lying states at E=290 and 828 keV which indicate that ${}^{80}{Zr}$ has an extremely large quadrupole deformation of $β_{2}$ ≊0.4.