Triple gamma ray directional correlations in the decay of /sup 154/Eu

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6244337

Lewis, G C

The /sup 154/Eu nucleus decays by beta emission to an excited state of the /sup 154/Gd nucleus. The resulting /sup 154/Gd nucleus decays to its ground state by emission of gamma rays. One series of gamma rays emitted in this process is a cascade of energies 723 keV, 873 keV, and 123 keV. The 873 keV gamma ray is a mixture of E2 and M1 radiation. The mixing ratio of this transition has been measured using the triple gamma directional correlation technique. The experiments used a planar geometry with one angle fixed at 90 degrees. Two Ge(Li) detectors and one Nal(T1) detector were used. These experiments were performed to develop the procedures needed to use the triple correlation technique and to compare the results with those from the commonly used double gamma correlation method. The triple correlation technique offers several advantages over the double correlations, including reduction of interference from unwanted cascades, resolution of ambiguities resulting from double correlation measurements, and the possibility of consistency checks using alternate triple correlation geometries. The mixing ratio determined from the average of eight sets of data was delta = -6.9(-3.4, +1.8). This result is consistent with previous double correlations on the same cascade. The accuracy and repeatability of the data obtained from the triple correlation technique were approximately the same as for double correlations using the same number of counts. The triple correlation technique is therefore feasible, but the low count rates associated with the triple correlation imply that its use will be restricted to cases where problems exist with the performance of double gamma ray correlations.

• Research Organization: Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6244337
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

651822* -- Nuclear Properties & Reactions
A=150-189
Experimental-- Radioactive Decay-- (-1987)
651823 -- Nuclear Properties & Reactions
A=150-189
Experimental-- Energy Levels & Transitions-- (-1987)
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
BETA DECAY
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CORRELATIONS
DATA
DECAY
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EUROPIUM 154
EUROPIUM ISOTOPES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GADOLINIUM 154
GADOLINIUM ISOTOPES
GAMMA SPECTRA
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MIXING RATIO
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE EARTH ISOTOPES
RARE EARTH NUCLEI
SPECTRA
STABLE ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES