ISOLDE mints isotopes of chromium

ISOLDE mints isotopes of chromium

5 years ago
Anonymous $cyhBy-qkd5

https://phys.org/news/2018-07-isolde-mints-isotopes-chromium.html

Chromium (Cr) has 24 protons, situating it midway between the magic calcium (with 20 protons) and the magic nickel (with 28). Its isotopes with a large number of neutrons, around 63Cr, are interesting for the study of nuclear structure. This is because these isotopes are located midway between the magic neutron numbers 28 and 50, where different nuclear models predict different deformed nuclear shapes and in some cases a new magic number at neutron number 40.

In this new study, the ISOLDE researchers have used a chemically selective ion source called resonant ionization laser ion source (RILIS) to deliver beams of neutron-rich chromium isotopes to the ISOLTRAP weigh station, allowing it to venture as far in neutron number as 63Cr, whose half-life is only 130 ms.