New half-life measurements of the most neutron-rich arsenic and germanium isotopes
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Experimental proton single-particle energies in the vicinity of the Fermi energy for stable zinc and germanium isotopes are analyzed on the basis the dispersive optical model. The values found for the parameters of the dispersive optical potential are corrected with the aim of matching the total number of protons that is calculated with the aid of the function of Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory for the occupation probability for single-particle orbits with the charge number Z of the nucleus. The parameters of the dispersive optical potential are extrapolated on the basis of physically motivated arguments to the region of unstable isotopes in which the number N ranges between 34 and 50, and single-particle spectra are predicted by means of calculations with these parameters.
Magnetic dipole strength functions are determined for the series of germanium isotopes from N=Z=32 to N = 48 on the basis of a large number of transition strengths calculated within the shell model. The evolution of the strength with increasing neutron number in the 1g 9/2 orbital is analyzed. A bimodal structure comprising an enhancement toward low transition energy and a resonance in the region of the scissors mode is identified. The low-energy enhancement is strongest near closed shells, in particular at the almost completely filled 1g 9/2 orbital, while the scissorslike resonance is most pronounced in the middle of the open shell, which correlates with the magnitude of the also deduced electric quadrupole transition strengths. The results are consistent with previous findings for the shorter series of iron isotopes and prove the occurrence and correlation of the two low-lying magnetic dipole modes as a global structural feature.
We report comparison of the interfacial sharpness characterization of germanium (Ge) isotopic multilayers between laser-assisted atom probe tomography (APT) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). An alternating stack of 8-nm-thick naturally available Ge layers and 8-nm-thick isotopically enriched {sup 70}Ge layers was prepared on a Ge(100) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. The APT mass spectra consist of clearly resolved peaks of five stable Ge isotopes ({sup 70}Ge, {sup 72}Ge, {sup 73}Ge, {sup 74}Ge, and {sup 76}Ge). The degree of intermixing at the interfaces between adjacent layers was determined by APT to be around 0.8 {+-} 0.1 nm which was much sharper than that obtained by SIMS.
Collinear laser spectroscopy measurements were performed on 68−74 Ge isotopes (Z=32) at ISOLDE-CERN, by probing the 4s 2 4p 2 3 P 1 → 4s 2 4p5s 3 P$^{o}_{1}$ atomic transition (269~nm) of germanium. Nuclear charge radii are determined via the measured isotope shifts, revealing a larger local variation than the neighboring isotopic chains. Nuclear density functional theory with the Fayans functionals Fy(Δr,HFB) and Fy(IVP), and the SV-min Skyrme describes the experimental data for the differential charge radii δ⟨r 2 ⟩ and charge radii R c within the theoretical uncertainties. The observed large variation in the charge radii of germanium isotopes is better accounted for by theoretical models incorporating ground state quadrupole correlations. This suggests that the polarization effects due to pairing and deformation contribute to the observed large odd-even staggering in the charge radii of the Ge isotopic chain.
Gallium (Ga) implantation induced self-atom mixing in crystalline and amorphous germanium (Ge) is investigated utilizing isotopically controlled Ge multilayer structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The distribution of the Ga ions and the ion-beam induced depth-dependent mixing of the isotope structure was determined by means of secondary ion mass spectrometry. Whereas the distribution of Ga in the crystalline and amorphous Ge is very similar and accurately reproduced by computer simulations based on binary collision approximation (BCA), the ion-beam induced self-atom mixing is found to depend strongly on the state of the Ge structure. The experiments reveal stronger self-atom mixing in crystalline than in amorphous Ge. Atomistic simulations based on BCA reproduce the experimental results only when unphysically low Ge displacement energies are assumed. Analysis of the self-atom mixing induced by silicon implantation confirms the low displacement energy deduced within the BCA approach. This demonstrates that thermal spike mixing contributes significantly to the overall mixing of the Ge isotope structures. The disparity observed in the ion-beam mixing efficiency of crystalline and amorphous Ge indicates different dominant mixing mechanisms. We propose that self-atom mixing in crystalline Ge is mainly controlled by radiation enhanced diffusion during the early stage of mixing before the crystalline structure turns amorphous, whereas in an already amorphous state self-atom mixing is mediated by cooperative diffusion events.
Self-atom mixing induced by 310 keV gallium (Ga) ion implantation in crystalline and preamorphized germanium (Ge) at temperatures between 164 K and 623 K and a dose of 1 × 10{sup 15} cm{sup −2} is investigated using isotopic multilayer structures of alternating {sup 70}Ge and {sup nat}Ge layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The distribution of the implanted Ga atoms and the ion-beam induced depth-dependent self-atom mixing was determined by means of secondary ion mass spectrometry. Three different temperature regimes of self-atom mixing, i.e., low-, intermediate-, and high-temperature regimes are observed. At temperatures up to 423 K, the mixing is independent of the initial structure, whereas at 523 K, the intermixing of the preamorphized Ge structure is about twice as high as that of crystalline Ge. At 623 K, the intermixing of the initially amorphous Ge structure is strongly reduced and approaches the mixing of the crystalline material. The temperature dependence of ion-beam mixing is described by competitive amorphization and recrystallization processes.
The single-particle proton spectra of the neutron-deficient isotopes {sup 50,52}Ni, {sup 56,58,60,62}Zn, and {sup 60,62,64}Ge were calculated on the basis of the dispersive optical model whose parameters were extrapolated from the region of stable isotopes. The resulting parameter values lead to agreement between the total number of protons in bound states and the charge number Z of the respective nucleus. The results of the calculations are indicative of a weakly magic character of the {sup 58}Zn nucleus, which has a traditional magic number of N = 28 and a nearly magic number of Z = 30, and the {sup 64}Ge nucleus, for which N = Z = 32.
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A study is presented of the instrumental background in astrophysical gamma-ray spectrometers using isotopically enriched germanium detectors. Calculations show that the beta-decay background, which is the largest component between approximately 0.1 and 1.0 MeV in balloonborne and satellite spectrometers, is dominated by the activation of Ge-74. This component can be reduced by an order of magnitude using detectors enriched to more than 80 percent in (Ge-70). The predicted reduction in the total background for current balloonborne instruments is more than a factor of 1.7 between 0.2 and 1.0 MeV. For future satellite instruments, the reduction in this energy range is by more than a factor of 5.
Isotopic composition of germanium in meteorites
Isotopic composition of germanium in eight meteorites is measured with a mass spectrometer and compared with a sample of terrestial origin
Future direct searches for low-mass dark matter particles with germanium detectors, such as SuperCDMS SNOLAB, are expected to be limited by backgrounds from radioactive isotopes activated by cosmogenic radiation inside the germanium. There are limited experimental data available to constrain production rates and a large spread of theoretical predictions. We examine the calculation of expected production rates, and analyze data from the second run of the CDMS low ionization threshold experiment (CDMSlite) to estimate the rates for several isotopes. We model the measured CDMSlite spectrum and fit for contributions from tritium and other isotopes. Using the knowledge of the detector history, these results are converted to cosmogenic production rates at sea level. The production rates in atoms/(kg$\cdot$day) are 74$\pm$9 for $^3$H, 1.5$\pm$0.7 for $^{55}$Fe, 17$\pm$5 for $^{65}$Zn, and 30$\pm$18 for $^{68}$Ge.
With their complex low-spin structure, the germanium isotopes have accrued a large number of experimental data which challenge nuclear models. The structure of the 74 Ge isotope is investigated here with nuclear resonance fluorescence as part of an extensive campaign of experimental tests of the shell model in the germanium isotopic chain using a number of complementary techniques. Levels were excited with 3.10 – 5.44 MeV photon beams provided by the High Intensity Gamma-Ray Source at TUNL. Many new levels were identified and their spins, parities, branching ratios, and associated scattering cross section values were determined. Large-scale shell-model calculations, which include jj44b and JUN45 effective interactions developed to describe nuclei in this mass region, predict the new data satisfactorily. Herein this study extends the validation of these two interactions, which are candidates for computation of matrix elements to be used in the interpretation of neutrinoless double-β decay experiments in 76 Ge, into the low-spin, high excitation energy domain.
Experiments searching for very rare processes such as neutrinoless double-beta decay require a detailed understanding of all sources of background. Signals from radioactive impurities present in construction and detector materials can be suppressed using a number of well-understood techniques. Background from in situ cosmogenic interactions can be reduced by siting an experiment deep underground. However, the next generation of such experiments have unprecedented sensitivity goals of 10 28 years half-life with background rates of 10 -5 cts/(keV kg yr) in the region of interest. To achieve these goals, the remaining cosmogenic background must be well understood. In the work presented here, Majorana Demonstrator data are used to search for decay signatures of metastable germanium isotopes. Contributions to the region of interest in energy and time are estimated using simulations and compared to Demonstrator data. Correlated time-delayed signals are used to identify decay signatures of isotopes produced in the germanium detectors. A good agreement between expected and measured rate is found and different simulation frameworks are used to estimate the uncertainties of the predictions. The simulation campaign is then extended to characterize the background for the LEGEND experiment, a proposed tonne-scale effort searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76 Ge .
The current focal point of the nuclear physics program at PNNL is the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, and the follow-on Tonne-Scale experiment, a large array of ultra-low background high-purity germanium detectors, enriched in 76Ge, designed to search for zero-neutrino double-beta decay (0νββ). This experiment requires the use of germanium isotopically enriched in 76Ge. The DEMONSTRATOR will utilize 76Ge from Russia, but for the Tonne-Scale experiment it is hoped that an alternate technology under development at Nonlinear Ion Dynamics (NID) will be a viable, US-based, lower-cost source of separated material. Samples of separated material from NID require analysis to determine the isotopic distribution and impurities. The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is a DOE and NSF funded project with a major science impact. DOE is funding NID through an SBIR grant for development of their separation technology for application to the Tonne-Scale experiment. The Environmental Molecular Sciences facility (EMSL), a DOE user facility at PNNL, has the required mass spectroscopy instruments for making these isotopic measurements that are essential to the quality assurance for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and for the development of the future separation technology required for the Tonne-Scale experiment. A sample of isotopically separated copper was provided by NID to PNNL for isotopic analysis as a test of the NID technology. The results of that analysis are reported here.
The evaluated spectroscopic data are presented for experimentally known nuclides of mass 71 (Mn,Fe,Co,Ni,Cu,Zn,Ga,Ge,As,Se,Br,Kr). Excited-state data are nonexistent for {sup 71}Mn, {sup 71}Fe, {sup 71}Co and {sup 71}Kr. Significant new data have been added since the last evaluation of A=71 nuclides by M. Bhat (1993Bh02). Excited states are now known in {sup 71}Ni and {sup 71}Cu, and enhanced information about high-spin excitations is available for {sup 71}Ga, {sup 71}As and {sup 71}Br. The decay schemes of radioactive isotopes {sup 71}Mn and {sup 71}Fe are not known at all, and those for {sup 71}Co, {sup 71m}Ni and {sup 71}Kr are not known well. For the decay of {sup 71}Cu, {sup 71g}Ni, and {sup 71}Br, extensive data are available, but in the opinion of the evaluators the decay schemes still seem incomplete. This work supersedes earlier full evaluations of A=71 published by 1988Bh01, 1979Ke06 and 1973Al33, and the last one published in 'update' mode by 1993Bh02.
In this paper a microscopic approach to calculation of the nuclear matrix element M{sup 0{nu}} for neutrinoless double-{beta} decay with an account for nuclear deformation is presented in length and applied for {sup 76}Ge, {sup 150}Nd, and {sup 160}Gd. The proton-neutron quasiparticle random-phase approximation with a realistic residual interaction (the Brueckner G matrix derived from the charge-depending Bonn nucleon-nucleon potential) is used as the underlying nuclear structure model. The effects of the short-range correlations and the quenching of the axial vector coupling constant g{sub A} are analyzed. The results suggest that neutrinoless double-{beta} decay of {sup 150}Nd, to be measured soon by the SNO+ Collaboration, may provide one of the best probes of the Majorana neutrino mass. This confirms our preliminary conclusion in Fang et al. [Phys. Rev. C 82, 051301(R) (2010)].