M. Bender

Precision mass measurements in the zirconium region pin down the mass surface across the neutron midshell at $N=66$

M. Hukkanen, W. Ryssens, P. Ascher, M. Bender, T. Eronen, S. Grévy, A. Kankainen, M. Stryjczyk, O. Beliuskina, Z. Ge, S. Geldhof, M. Gerbaux, W. Gins, A. Husson, D. A. Nesterenko, A. Raggio, M. Reponen [1], S. Rinta-Antila [1], J. Romero [1], A. de Roubin [1], V. Virtanen [1], A. Zadvornaya [1]

Abstract

Precision mass measurements of $^{104}$Y, $^{106}$Zr, $^{104,104m,109}$Nb, and $^{111,112}$Mo have been performed with the JYFLTRAP double Penning trap mass spectrometer at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility. The order of the long-lived states in $^{104}$Nb was unambiguously established. The trend in two-neutron separation energies around the $N=66$ neutron midshell appeared to be steeper with respect to the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020 extrapolations for the $_{39}$Y and $_{40}$Zr isotopic chains and less steep for the $_{41}$Nb chain, indicating a possible gap opening around $Z=40$. The experimental results were compared to the BSkG2 model calculations performed with and without vibrational and rotational corrections. All of them predict two low-lying minima for $^{106}$Zr. While the unaltered BSkG2 model fails to predict the trend in two-neutron separation energies, selecting the more deformed minima in calculations and removing the vibrational correction, the calculations are more in line with experimental data. The same is also true for the $2^+_1$ excitation energies and differences in charge radii in the Zr isotopes. The results stress the importance of improved treatment of collective corrections in large-scale models and further development of beyond-mean-field techniques.

Odd-odd neutron-rich rhodium isotopes studied with the double Penning trap JYFLTRAP

M. Hukkanen [1,2], W. Ryssens [3], P. Ascher [2], M. Bender, T. Eronen [1,2], S. Grévy, A. Kankainen [1], M. Stryjczyk [1], L. Al Ayoubi [1,5], S. Ayet [6], O. Beliuskina [1], C. Delafosse [1], W. Gins [1], M. Gerbaux [2], A. Husson [2], A. Jokinen [1], D. A. Nesterenko, I. Pohjalainen [1], M. Reponen [1], S. Rinta-Antila [1], A. de Roubin [1,7], A. P. Weaver

Abstract

Precision mass measurements of neutron-rich rhodium isotopes have been performed at the JYFLTRAP Penning trap mass spectrometer at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line (IGISOL) facility. We report results on ground- and isomeric-state masses in $^{110,112,114,116,118}$Rh and the very first mass measurement of $^{120}$Rh. The isomeric states were separated and measured for the first time using the phase-imaging ion-cyclotron-resonance (PI-ICR) technique. For $^{112}$Rh, we also report new half-lives for both the ground state and the isomer. The results are compared to theoretical predictions using the BSkG1 mass model and discussed in terms of triaxial deformation.