In the EXILL campaign a highly efficient array of high purity germanium (HPGe) detectors was operated at the cold neutron beam facility PF1B of the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) to carry out nuclear structure studies, via measurements of γ-rays following neutron-induced capture and fission reactions. The setup consisted of a collimation system producing a pencil beam with a thermal capture equivalent flux of about 108 n s−1cm−2 at the target position and negligible neutron halo. The target was surrounded by an array of eight to ten anti-Compton shielded EXOGAM Clover detectors, four to six anti-Compton shielded large coaxial GASP detectors and two standard Clover detectors. For a part of the campaign the array was combined with 16 LaBr3:(Ce) detectors from the FATIMA collaboration. The detectors were arranged in an array of rhombicuboctahedron geometry, providing the possibility to carry out very precise angular correlation and directional-polarization correlation measurements. The triggerless acquisition system allowed a signal collection rate of up to 6 × 105 Hz. The data allowed to set multi-fold coincidences to obtain decay schemes and in combination with the FATIMA array of LaBr3:(Ce) detectors to analyze half-lives of excited levels in the pico- to microsecond range. Precise energy and efficiency calibrations of EXILL were performed using standard calibration sources of 133Ba, 60Co and 152Eu as well as data from the reactions 27Al(n,γ)28Al and 35Cl(n,γ)36Cl in the energy range from 30 keV up to 10 MeV.

Background: In the neutron-rich A ≈ 100 mass region, rapid shape changes as a function of nucleon number as well as coexistence of prolate, oblate, and triaxial shapes are predicted by various theoretical models. Lifetime measurements of excited levels in the molybdenum isotopes allow the determination of transitional quadrupole moments, which in turn provides structural information regarding the predicted shape change. Purpose: The present paper reports on the experimental setup, the method that allowed one to measure the lifetimes of excited states in even-even molybdenum isotopes from mass A = 100 up to mass A = 108, and the results that were obtained. Method:The isotopes of interest were populated by secondary knock-out reaction of neutron-rich nuclei separated and identified by the GSI fragment separator at relativistic beam energies and detected by the sensitive PreSPEC-AGATA experimental setup. The latter included the Lund-York-Cologne calorimeter for identification, tracking, and velocity measurement of ejectiles, and AGATA, an array of position sensitive segmented HPGe detectors, used to determine the interaction positions of the γ ray enabling a precise Doppler correction. The lifetimes were determined with a relativistic version of the Doppler-shift-attenuation method using the systematic shift of the energy after Doppler correction of a γ -ray transition with a known energy. This relativistic Doppler-shiftattenuation method allowed the determination of mean lifetimes from 2 to 250 ps. Results: Even-even molybdenum isotopes from mass A = 100 to A = 108 were studied. The decays of the low-lying states in the ground-state band were observed. In particular, two mean lifetimes were measured for the first time: τ = 29.7 Conclusions:The reduced transition strengths B(E2), calculated from lifetimes measured in this experiment, compared to beyond-mean-field calculations, indicate a gradual shape transition in the chain of molybdenum isotopes when going from A = 100 to A = 108 with a maximum reached at N = 64. The transition probabilities decrease for 108 Mo which may be related to its well-pronounced triaxial shape indicated by the calculations.

The high flux reactor of the Institut Laue-Langevin is the world most intense neutron source for research. Using the ultra highresolution crystal spectrometers GAMS installed at the in-pile target position H6/H7 it is possible to measure nuclear state lifetimes using the Gamma Ray Induced Recoil (GRID) technique. In bent crystal mode, the spectrometers allow to perform spectroscopy with a dynamic range of up to six orders magnitude. At a very well collimated external neutron beam it is possible to install a highly efficient germanium detector array to obtain coincidences and angular correlations. The mentioned techniques were used to study the first two negative parity bands in 156 Gd. These bands have been in the focus of interest since they seem to show signatures of a tetrahedral symmetry. A surprisingly high B(E2) value of about 1000 W.u. for the 4 − → 2 − transition was discovered. It indicates that the two first negative parity bands cannot be considered to be signature partners.

Background: While the N = 50 shell-gap evolution towards 78 Ni is presently in the focus of nuclear structure research, experimental information on the neutron effective single-particle energy sequence above the 78 Ni core remain scarce. Direct nucleon-exchange reactions are indeed difficult with presently available post-accelerated radioactive-ion beams (especially for high orbital-momentum orbitals) in this exotic region. Purpose: In this study we probe the evolution of the ν1g 7/2 effective single-particle energy which is a key to understanding the possible evolution of the spin-orbit splitting due to the proton-neutron interaction in the 78 Ni region. To achieve this goal, a method based on lifetime measurements is used for the first time. The obtained lifetimes of the 7/2 + 1 states in 87 Kr and 85 Se are used to investigate the ν1g 7/2 evolution. Method: Yrast and near-yrast states in the light N = 51 isotones 85 Se and 87 Kr were populated via multinucleon transfer reactions, using a 82 Se beam and a 238 U target at the LNL tandem-ALPI facility. The prompt γ rays were detected by the AGATA Demonstrator and particle identification was performed using the PRISMA spectrometer. Lifetime measurements were performed by using the Cologne plunger device for deep inelastic reactions and the Recoil Distance Doppler Shift technique. Results: We obtain τ (7/2 + 1 ) = 0.4 +1.6 −0.4 ps for 87 Kr. In the case of 85 Se an upper limit of 3(2) ps is obtained for the τ 7/2 + 1 value. Conclusion: For 87 Kr, the measured (7/2 + 1 ) lifetime is consistent with a core-coupled 2 + ⊗ ν2d 5/2 configuration for this state. This result is consistent with that obtained by direct reaction, which validates our method. For 85 Se, the measured 7/2 + 1 lifetime limit indicates a very small contribution of the ν1g 7/2 configuration to the wave function of this state.

Abstract. At the PF1B cold neutron beam line at the Institut Laue Langevin, the EXILL array consisting of EXOGAM, GASP and ILL-Clover detectors was used to perform (n,J) measurements at very high coincidence rates. About ten different reactions were measured in autumn 2012 using a highly collimated cold neutron beam. In spring 2013, the EXOGAM array was combined with 16 LaBr 3 (Ce) scintillators in the EXILL&FATIMA campaign for the measurement of lifetimes using the generalised centroid difference method. We report on the properties of the set-ups and present first results from both campaigns.