Direct observation of two protons in the decay of $^{54}$Zn

P. Ascher (1) , L. Audirac (1) , N. Adimi (1) , Bertram Blank (1) , C. Borcea , B.A. Brown , I. Companis (1) , F. Delalee (1) , C.E. Demonchy (1) , Francois de Oliveira Santos (2) , J. Giovinazzo (1) , S. Grévy (1) , L.V. Grigorenko , T. Kurtukian Nieto (1) , S. Leblanc (1) , J.-L. Pedroza (1) , L. Perrot (2) , J. Pibernat (1) , L. Serani (1) , P.C. Srivastava (2) , J.C. Thomas (2)

1 CENBG - Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
2 GANIL - Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds

The two protons emitted in the decay of 54Zn have been individually observed for the rst time in a Time Projection Chamber. The total decay energy and the half-life measured in this work agree with the results obtained in a previous experiment. Angular and energy correlations between the two protons are determined and compared to theoretical distributions of a three-body model. Within the shell model framework, the relative decay probabilities show a strong contribution of the p2 con guration for the two-proton emission. After 45Fe, the present result on 54Zn constitutes only the second case of a direct observation of the ground state two-proton decay of a long-lived isotope.

Domaines: Physique Nucléaire Expérimentale [nucl-ex]

P. Ascher, L. Audirac, N. Adimi, Bertram Blank, C. Borcea, et al.. Direct observation of two protons in the decay of $^{54}$Zn. Physical Review Letters, 2011, 107, pp.102502. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.102502⟩. ⟨in2p3-00617475⟩