Neutron-proton pairing competition in N = Z nuclei: Metastable state decays in the proton dripline nuclei Nb-82(41) and Tc-86(43)
- Garnsworthy, A. B.
- Regan, P. H.
- Caceres, L.
- Pietri, S.
- Sun, Y.
- Rudolph, D.
- Gorska, M.
- Podolyak, Zs.
- Steer, S. J.
- Hoischen, R.
- Heinz, A.
- Becker, F.
- Bednarczyk, P.
- Doornenbal, P.
- Geissel, H.
- Gerl, J.
- Grawe, H.
- Grebosz, J.
- Kelic, A.
- Kojouharov, I.
- Kurz, N.
- Montes, F.
- Prokopowicz, W.
- Saito, T.
- Schaffner, H.
- Tachenov, S.
- Werner-Malento, E.
- Wollersheim, H. J.
- Benzoni, G.
- Blank, B. B.
- Brandau, C.
- Bruce, A. M.
- Camera, F.
- Catford, W. N.
- Cullen, I. J.
- Dombradi, Zs.
- Estevez, E.
- Gelletly, W.
- Ilie, G.
- Jolie, J.
- Jones, G
DOIAbstract
The low-lying structures of the self-conjugate (N = Z) nuclei Nb-82(41)41 and Tc-86(43)43 have been investigated using isomeric-decay spectroscopy following the projectile fragmentation of a Ag-107 beam. These represent the heaviest odd-odd N = Z nuclei in which internal decays have been identified to date. The resulting level schemes shed light on the shape evolution along the N = Z line between the doubly-magic systems Ni-56(28) and Sn-100(50) and support a preference for T = 1 states in T-z = 0 odd-odd nuclei at low excitation energies associated with a T = 1 neutron-proton pairing gap. Comparison with Projected Shell Model calculations suggests that the decay in Nb-82 may be interpreted as an isospin-changing K isomer. (C) 2008 Elsevier...
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