The structure of 72Ni via beta-delayed neutron spectroscopy of 72Co*

Studies of beta decays can give important insights into the structure of the nucleus. Measurements of closed-shell nuclei provide important benchmarks for structure models, which are used in simulations of r-process nucleosynthesis. This work studies beta decays and beta-delayed neutrons of 72Co produced at MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory using the Versatile Array of Neutron Detectors at Low Energy. To carry out this experiment, a novel position-sensitive scintillating detector was developed to enable the sub-nanosecond timing resolution that VANDLE requires, which silicon-based position-sensitive detectors would be unable to provide. A gamma spectroscopy setup including an HPGe Clover and LaBr3 HAGRiD detectors provides the necessary spectroscopic information for a full reconstruction of the 72Co decay strength.