skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Suppression of the internal Conversion Decay of Th-229m (FY19Q1 report)

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1491980· OSTI ID:1491980
 [1]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

To measure the decay energy of metastable Th-229m, we had proposed to modify an existing experiment by placing a MgF2 crystal between our U-233 source and a high-resolution STJ photon detector. Metastable Th-229m nuclei produced in the decay of U-233 would be absorbed in the MgF2, but since the MgF2 bandgap of ~10eV exceeds the energy of the metastable state, decay by internal conversion is expected to be suppressed. Th-229m can then only decay by gamma emission, and the ~7.8 eV gamma energy can be transmitted through the MgF2 and detected by the STJ detector. The spectra are calibrated with a pulsed 355 nm laser.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1491980
Report Number(s):
LLNL-TR-765340; 955347
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Resonance conversion as a dominant decay mode for the 3.5-eV isomer in {sup 229m}Th
Journal Article · Sat Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2006 · Physics of Atomic Nuclei · OSTI ID:1491980

Search for direct detection of thorium-229m nuclear VUV photons
Journal Article · Mon Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Journal of Physics. B, Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics · OSTI ID:1491980

SPECTRUM OF THE INTERNAL CONVERSION ELECTRONS ACCOMPANYING $alpha$-DECAY OF U$sup 233$ AND THE LEVEL SCHEME OF Th$sup 22$$sup 9$
Journal Article · Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1959 · Zhur. Eksptl'. i Teoret Fiz. · OSTI ID:1491980