Na isotopes

Nuclear transition rates are sensitive probes for identifying differences in the underlying configurations of nuclei. One method to measure half-lives is through the direct measurement of the time delay between two emitted radiations following β decay. A β-decay experiment was performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) to study the β decay and β-delayed neutron decay daughters of ^{31, 32, 33}Na isotopes found at the center of the neutron-rich N=20 “island of inversion.” Radioactive nuclei were implanted within a thin, position-sensitive CeBr₃ detector and β-delayed radiation was correlated to the implanted nuclei. Ancillary arrays surrounding the CeBr₃ detector were used for γ-ray detection, including 15 LaBr₃ (Ce) detectors for fast-timing measurements. Preliminary results of half-lives of isomeric states populated following the β decay and β-delayed neutron decay of implanted sodium isotopes will be presented.