Electron-capture-delayed fission in 232Am and rotational structure in 232Pu

The electron-capture-delayed fission (ECDF) process allows us to study structure in very neutron-deficient nuclei that could not be directly produced in a fusion reaction. This decay mode may be important in the production of heavy elements in the r-process. The ECDF nuclide 232Am was produced at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 88-Inch Cyclotron in the 237Np(3He,8n) reaction using a stack of 10 thin (124-197 mu-g/cm2 each) targets at a beam energy of 75 MeV incident on the first target. Recoiling activities were collected and transported to a specially designed "Sample Changer" that moved samples into Gammasphere for analysis. The latest results on ECDF in this nuclide and rotational structure in the electron capture daughter 232Pu will be discussed. These experiments show the promise of using Gammasphere to study nuclei that would otherwise be inaccessible due to the need for radioactive targets or pre-separation in the Berkeley Gas-Filled Separator