Researchers at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have precisely measured the atomic masses of radioactive lanthanum isotopes, revealing an unexpected feature in their nuclear binding energies. This discovery provides crucial data for understanding the formation of elements heavier than iron in the universe and prompts further investigation into the underlying nuclear structure responsible for this anomaly.
Nuclear binding energies of neutron-rich radioactive nuclei play a key role in modeling the origin of heavy elements in the cosmos. Using the Ion Guide Isotope Separation On-Line (IGISOL) facility, the researchers successfully produced short-lived, neutron-rich lanthanum isotopes. Due to their fleeting existence, these isotopes are particularly challenging to study, making the precise mass measurements a significant achievement.
“Thanks to the highly sensitive phase-imaging ion cyclotron resonance technique, masses for six lanthanum isotopes could be determined with a very high precision using the JYFLTRAP Penning trap mass spectrometer. The masses for the two most exotic isotopes, lanthanum-152 and lanthanum-153 were measured for the first time,” says Professor Anu Kankainen from University of Jyväskylä, who led the research as a part of her ERC CoG project MAIDEN.
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