Towards the β-decay strength distribution of ⁶⁷Co

Roughly half of the heavy isotopes are thought to be produced in the rapid-neutron capture process (r-process). Advances in the astrophysical realm of the r-process reveal a need for experimental data on short-lived neutron-rich nuclei. Half-lives and other β-decay properties have been shown to greatly impact final abundances of nuclei produced via the r-process [1]. The β-decay scheme of ⁶⁷Co was measured using total absorption spectroscopy with the Summing NaI (SuN) detector at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory in furtherance of more accurate nucleosynthetic predictions. Measuring decays using this method overcomes the so-called “pandemonium effect”, which causes the β-feeding to high-lying excitation energies to be undetected using traditional techniques. The resulting β-decay intensities and subsequent Gamow-Teller strengths are compared to theoretical calculations used in current r-process models.

[1] M. R. Mumpower, R. Surman, G.C. McLaughlin, A. Aprahamian. Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics 86 (2016), 86-126.