On the b-decay of 9C

In β-decay experiments on 9C at CERN/ISOLDE the β-strength was determined to the ground state, the 12.2 MeV excited state and the Isobaric Analog State (IAS) at 14.655 MeV in 9B. A large β-strength asymmetry is deduced for the mirror transitions of 9C and 9Li to states around 12 MeV excitation energy. A satisfactory description of the three-body decay from a narrow energy region around the 12.2 MeV resonance is obtained within a sequential model involving the ground and first-excited states of 5Li and 8Be. From the study of angular correlations the spin of the 12.2 MeV state is determined as 5/2−. For the first time the population of the IAS is observed in β-decay and new information on the decay of this state is obtained. The advantages of a closely packed, highly segmented detector setup are demonstrated