Rotational Band Structure of Dysprosium-158 via Fusion Evaporation Reaction

Dysprosium-158 is an even-even deformed nucleus. Deformed nuclei form in mass ranges from 150 amu to 190 amu as well as above 220 amu and have characteristic non-spherical shapes. Furthermore, even-even nuclei possess a ‘rotational band’ decay structure. Measuring these rotational bands gives insight to the structure of the nucleus. In this experiment, Dy-158 was produced via a fusion evaporation reaction 156Gd(4He, 2n) 158Dy. The reaction used a Gadolinium-156 target and an alpha particle beam at 28.5 MeV to create the Dysprosium isotope. From this reaction, using a germanium semiconductor detector, gamma energy peaks were detected correlating to the 12+ and lower excited states of Dy-158. Information about the decay and nuclear structure such as relative intensity can be calculated from these measurements. This experiment observes the Dysprosium-158 rotational band confirms measurements and basic calculations of the Dysprosium-158 isotope via the fusion evaporation reaction.