Results from the study of the β decay of ${}^{40}\mathrm{P},$ produced in the fragmentation of a ${}^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ beam, are presented. The ${}^{40}\mathrm{P}$ half-life and delayed-neutron emission probability have been measured to be $153\pm 8\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{ms}$ and $15.8\pm 2.1\%,$ respectively. On the basis of γ-ray singles and $\gamma \gamma$ coincidence data, $21\gamma$ rays have been assigned to the decay. Three γ rays are assigned to excited states in ${}^{39}\mathrm{S}$ populated in the delayed-neutron branch while a total of $15\gamma$ rays were placed in a level scheme for ${}^{40}\mathrm{S}$ with nine excited states up to 5 MeV. The structure of low-energy states in ${}^{40}\mathrm{S}$ has been fit using the geometrical collective model that indicates the structure to be consistent with that of an anharmonic oscillator with a soft potential.

• Received 4 June 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.64.064318