The half-life of ${}^{18}\mathrm{Ne}$ has been determined by detecting 1042-keV γ rays in the daughter ${}^{18}\mathrm{F}$ following the superallowed-Fermi ${\beta }^{+}$ decay of samples implanted at the center of the $8\pi \gamma$-ray spectrometer, a spherical array of 20 HPGe detectors. Radioactive ${}^{18}\mathrm{Ne}$ beams were produced on-line, mass-separated, and ionized using an electron-cyclotron-resonance ionization source at the ISAC facility at TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada. This is the first high-precision half-life measurement of a superallowed Fermi β decay to utilize both a large-scale HPGe spectrometer and the isotope separation on-line technique. The half-life of ${}^{18}\mathrm{Ne}$, 1.6656 ± 0.0019 s, deduced following a 1.4σ correction for detector pulse pile-up, is four times more precise than the previous world average. As part of an investigation into potential systematic effects, the half-life of the heavier isotope ${}^{23}\mathrm{Ne}$ was determined to be 37.11 ± 0.06 s, a factor of 2 improvement over the previous precision.

• Received 20 March 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.76.025503