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This report details the status of an experimental research programme which has studied isomeric states in the mass 130–160 region of the nuclear chart. Several new isomers have been established and characterised near the proton drip line using a recoil isomer tagging technique at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The latest experiments have been performed with a modified setup where the standard GREAT focal-plane double-sided silicon-strip detector was changed to a dual multi-wire proportional-counter arrangement. This new setup has improved capability for short-lived isomer studies where large focal-plane rates can be tolerated. The results of key recent experiments for nuclei situated above (153Yb, 152Tm) and below (144Ho, 142Tb) the N = 82 shell gap were presented. These studies have charted the evolution of isomeric states across the neutron shell from K-Isomers at N = 74, to shape isomers at N = 77 and shell-model isomers at N = 82, 83. The excitation energies for some of the lowest-lying excited states in these isomeric nuclei show behaviour which is characteristic of an X(5) symmetry falling midway between the limits expected for pure vibrational and rotational behaviour. The future prospects for studies of these nuclei were discussed using an isomer-tagged differential-plunger setup. This technique will be capable of establishing the deformation of the states above the isomers and will aid in determining whether their behaviour is indeed well described by the X(5) symmetry limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report details the status of an experimental research programme which has studied isomeric states in the mass 130–160 region of the nuclear chart. Several new isomers have been established and characterised near the proton drip line using a recoil isomer tagging technique at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The latest experiments have been performed with a modified setup where the standard GREAT focal-plane double-sided silicon-strip detector was changed to a dual multi-wire proportional-counter arrangement. This new setup has improved capability for short-lived isomer studies where high focal-plane rates can be tolerated. The results of key recent experiments for nuclei situated above (153Yb,152Tm) and below (136Pm,142Tb) the N = 82 shell gap were presented along with an interpretation for the isomers. Finally, the future prospects of the technique, using an isomer-tagged differential-plunger setup, were discussed. This technique will be capable of establishing the deformation of the states above the isomers and will aid in the process of assigning underlying single-particle configurations to the isomeric states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the past, present and future status of recoil-isomer tagging at the University of Jyväskylä. The main focus of this research has been to access isomeric states at and beyond the mass ≈140 proton drip line. Recoil-isomer tagging was first used at the University of Jyväskylä in 1998 to establish the prompt rotational band built upon a Kπ = 8- isomeric state in 138Gd. Since that time a series of experiments have been performed which have studied isomeric states in the N = 77 isotones 63140Eu77, 65142Tb77 and 67144Ho77, and in the N = 74 K-isomer chain, 64138Gd74 and 66140Dy74. These experiments have revealed valuable first information about deformations, single-particle excitation energies and hindrance factors in nuclei at and beyond the proton drip line where little or no information previously existed. The results of the most-recent experiments were discussed. These experiments established new isomeric states in 66143Dy77, 61136Pm75, and 64137Gd73 and a further two isomers which are currently unplaced. The paper concludes with a discussion of the future prospects for this research including the increased efficiency of the recoil-isomer tagging technique with a new Multi-Wire Proportional Counter (MWPC) detector which was designed and built at the University of Manchester. The first results from this new setup were shown. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]