α-decay chain of the short-lived isotope Pa220 established using a digital pulse processing technique
Abstract
The decay properties of the short-lived isotope Pa220 were re-investigated via the reaction Ar40+Re187 at the gas-filled recoil separator Spectrometer for Heavy Atoms and Nuclear Structure. The digital pulse processing technique was applied to resolve the evaporation residues–α (ER-α) pileup signals in the decay of Pa220. The α-decay chain of Pa220 leading to the well-known Ac216 isotope was established for the first time. The α energy and half-life were measured to be Eα=9.520(16)MeV and T1/2=0.90(13)μs, respectively. The spin parity of the ground state of Pa220 was assigned to be 1−, based on the reduced α-decay width.