Abstract.
The alpha decay of 151Eu to the first excited level of 147Pm (\(J^\pi = 5/2^+\) , \(E_{exc}=91.1\) keV) was searched for at the HADES underground laboratory (\(\approx 500\) m w.e.). A sample of high-purity europium oxide with mass of 303g and a natural isotopic composition has been measured over 2232.8h with a high energy resolution ultra-low background n-type semi-planar HPGe detector (40 cm3) with sub-micron deadlayer. The new improved half-life limit has been set as \(T_{1/2} \geq 3.7\times 10^{18}\) y at 68% CL. Possibilities to improve the sensitivity of the experiment, which is already near the theoretical predictions, are discussed. New half-life limit for \(\alpha\) decay of 153Eu is also determined as \(T_{1/2} \geq 5.5\times 10^{17}\) y.
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Danevich, F.A., Andreotti, E., Hult, M. et al. Search for \(\alpha\) decay of 151Eu to the first excited level of 147Pm using underground \(\gamma\)-ray spectrometry. Eur. Phys. J. A 48, 157 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2012-12157-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2012-12157-7