Physics

Paper No. : Nuclear and Particle Physics

Module : Basic nuclear properties-5

Development Team

Principal Investigator Prof. Vinay Gupta, Department of Physics and Astrophysics,

University of Delhi, Delhi

Dr. Sanjay Kumar Chamoli, Department of Physics and

Paper Coordinator Astrophysics, University of Delhi, New Delhi-110007

Content Writer Dr. Sanjay Kumar Chamoli, Department of Physics and

Astrophysics, University of Delhi, New Delhi-110007

Prof. S. K. Pancholi, Department of Physics and Astrophysics,

Content Reviewer
University of Delhi, Delhi

Nuclear and Particle Physics

Physics
Basic Nuclear Properties -5
Description of Module
Subject Name Physics

Paper Name Nuclear and Particle Physics

Module Name/Title Basic nuclear properties-5

Module Id M6

Nuclear and Particle Physics

Physics
Basic Nuclear Properties -5
Contents of this Unit

1. Measuring nuclear properties: Spin

2. Measuring nuclear properties: Parity

3. Summary

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Learning Outcomes

From this module students may get to know about the following:
 The knowledge of basic nuclear properties.
 The importance of nuclear properties.
 The experimental ways of determining nuclear properties.

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1. Spin
To measure the spin of a nuclear state experimentally, the multipole order of radiation and the
dipole-quadrupole mixing ratio () needs to be determined. The multipole order and the dipole-
quadrupole mixing ratio () of the de-exciting -rays can be measured by measuring the -ray
angular distribution or  -  Directional Correlation of -rays from oriented nuclear states (DCO
ratios).
1.1. Directional Correlation Ratio (DCO- ratio) :The information about the DCO ratios is obtained
in experiments with multi detector arrays in which the detectors should be placed at different
angles with respect to the beam direction. The DCO ratio method is an important tool to infer the
spin differences between states observed by the coincidence measurement of the gamma-decay
between them.

1.1.1. Importance of DCO ratio : In comparison to the angular distribution, the DCO ratio is
advantages in the sense that
- weak transitions can be studied,
- members of multiplets can be analysed and
- no normalisation to the beam charge is necessary
- By use of multidetector arrays the statistical accuracy of the DCO ratios can be increased by
analysing many detector combinations .

1.1.2 Calculation of DCO ratio : For most applications the theory of DCO ratios can be simplified
with respect to the general directional correlation theory by taking into account the experimental
conditions (i) that unpolarized beams are used and (ii) that the detectors are insensitive to the
polarization of the -y-rays. Therefore, detectors placed at forward and backward angles with respect
to the beam direction can be treated in the same way. The angular correlation of -y-rays emitted
from oriented states depends on the spins of the involved levels, the multipolarities and mixing ratios
of the -transitions and the m-substate population distribution of the initial state. In the experiment a
compound nucleus is produced via fusion evaporation reaction by bombarding a target nucleus with
a projectile. The compound nucleus then start decaying by emitting -ray and come to the lower
energy state. The -ray from the decaying nucleus are mostly of dipole or quadrupole nature or a
mixture of both types. Suppose two detectors 1 and 2, placed at different angles as shown in figure 1,
are used to determine the angular correlation of a cascade of two -rays. The detectors are making an
angle θ1 and θ2 with the beam direction. The angle between the planes opened by each detector and
the beam axis is .
Mathematically, the experimental DCO ratio is defined as the ratio of the intensity of transition 2,
determined from a spectrum of detector 1 gated on the transition 1 in detector 2 to the intensity of
the transition 2, determined from a spectrum in detector 2 gated on the transition 1 in detector 1. i.e;
𝛾 𝛾
𝐼𝜃12 (𝐺𝑎𝑡𝑒𝜃21 )
𝑅𝐷𝐶𝑂 = 𝛾 𝛾
𝐼𝜃2 (𝐺𝑎𝑡𝑒𝜃1 )
2 1

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 Fig. 1: Geometry of the detector arrangement with the beam as orientation axis.

It is to be noted that an exchange of the angles or of the gating and observed transitions will invert
the DCO ratio. A DCO ratio RDCO = 1.0 is obtained independently of 2 if both transitions are of the
same multipole order. The largest difference in the DCO ratios of both cascades is observed if one
detector is placed at 0 ° and the other one at 90° to the beam direction. To obtain the largest effects
in the DCO ratios the angle 0 should be close to 0° or 1800. Therefore, an arrangement of the
detectors in a plane parallel to the beam direction would give the best results with respect to DCO
ratios. This arrangement is only possible for a small number of detectors. For large arrays one has to
select detectors with values of the angles 0, B Z and 0 for the analysis which give the largest effects
for the DCO ratios. The experimental DCO ratios have to be corrected for the relative efficiencies of
the detectors. A simple method to find the average correction factor is to study the DCO ratios for
cascades of known multipolarities and spins. The best case is that of two transitions with the same
multipolarities, for which the calculated DCO ratio is RDCO = 1. The energies of the transitions for
which the correction factor is determined should be similar to those under investigation, because of
the energy dependence of the relative efficiencies of the detectors.
To determine the DCO ratios more precisely, the multidetector array is used. Large number of
detectors at different angles in the detector array gives many combinations of DCO ratio for the
same gamma ray transition. Due to this big advantage, the multidetector arrays are frequently used
these days for DCO ratio measurements. Fig. 2 below shows the picture of the Indian National
gamma Array (INGA), used in DCO ratio measurements in India.
To show how useful these big detector arrays are, the DCO ratios measurements have been done
with Gamma Detector Array (GDA), consisting of 12-HPGe detectors arranged in three different
rings making angles of 530, 990 and 1530 respectively with the direction of beam. For this experiment
the high spin states in 67Ga nucleus was populated with 52Cr(19F,2p2n) fusion evaporation reaction at
Inter University Accelerator Center. The plot of experimental value of DCO ratio of 958 keV peak
obtained by gate on 1160 keV is shown in Fig. 3.

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 Fig. 2: The picture of Indian National Gamma Array (INGA) at TIFR, Mumbai.

Fig. 3: DCO Ratio of the transitions belonging to the band gated by 958 keV transition.
The value of RDCO is approximately unity for quadrupole transition and non stretched dipole, the
value between 0.4 and 0.6 for stretched dipole and the value between 0.6 and 0.8 implies a mixed
transition.
1.1.3 Limitations of DCO ratio method : Though the DCO ratio method is advantageous and
therefore preferred over angular distribution measurements method, it has its limitation too. The
serious disadvantage is that with this method a spin change ofI = ± 1 cannot be distinguished.
2. Parity
The parity of a nuclear state can efficiently be determined by measuring the electric and magnetic
nature of de-exciting -rays (Linear polarization). The sign of the measured linear polarization

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distinguishes electric and magnetic types of gamma-ray transitions. Electric transitions have
preferential scattering along the perpendicular direction, while magnetic transitions have scattering
along parallel direction. Depending on the energy of  -ray, Compton scattering, e-- e+ pair
production and photoelectric effect can be used for measuring the degree of polarization. The linear
polarization along with the angular distribution or DCO ratios measurements can uniquely determine
the spins & parities of nuclear states
2.1 Polarization measurement in nuclei : A conventional Compton polarimeter, used to determine
the parities of different levels in 155Gd is shown in figure 4. It has one scatterer and two absorbers
with 25 segments on the front face of a germanium crystal, each of which acts an individual gamma-
ray detector. In this polarimeter, there are three planes and four relevant angles to define the linear
polarization of the gamma rays.

Fig. 4: A picture of a conventional Compton polarimeter consisting of one scatterer and two
absorbers.
The linear polarization of gamma rays emitted from oriented states formed in nuclear reactions and
the angular distribution of the gamma rays are related to each other. For a linear polarized gamma
rays, the angular distribution function depends not on their outgoing direction, θ with respect to the
beam axis and their electric field direction, ε with respect to the reaction plane. The linear
polarization of -rays can be expressed in terms of the angular distribution functions when their
electric field is in the reaction plane, W(θ, ε = 00), and when it is perpendicular to the reaction plane,
W(θ, ε = 900). i.e;

W ( ,   00 )  W ( ,   900 )
P( ) 
W ( ,   00 )  W ( ,   900 )

Where, W(θ, ε = 00) = Angular distribution in Detector 1 and

W(θ, ε = 900) = Angular distribution in Detector 2

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2.2 Calculating polarization coefficients theoretically : The polarization coefficients for pure
(electric/magnetic) dipole and the (electric) quadrupole transitions in terms of angular distribution
parameters a2 and a4 can be derived as:

3a2 sin 2  3a2 sin 2 

P( ) E1  - , P ( ) M 1 
2  a2  3a 2 cos2  2  a2  3a 2 cos2 

 
 
 35 5  1 
P( )  3a 2 sin   a4  cos   10 cos   
E2 2 4 2

 4 4   35 30 3
 2  a2  3a 2 cos   a4  cos   cos    
2 4 2

  4 4 4

From the above equations, the maximum value of the polarization in magnitudes at  = 900.
Theoretically calculated values of polarization coefficients for pure (electric/ magnetic) dipole and
the (electric) quadrupole transitions are listed in table 1.
Table 1: Theoretically calculated values of polarization coefficients for pure (electric/ magnetic)
dipole and the (electric) quadrupole transitions.
Type a2 a4 P(  900 )
E1 <0 0 3a2
 0
2  a2

M1 <0 0 3a2
0
2  a2

E2 >0 <0 12a2  5a4

0
8  4a2  3a4

The linear polarization can be measure experimentally by arranging the scatterer and detectors in a
way such that the one of the Compton-scattering plane is perpendicular to the reaction plane while
the other matches the reaction plane. Such a geometry is shown in Fig. 1. Experimentally,
polarization is found by collecting the statistics in two mutually perpendicular gamma detectors (N||
& N) placed around scatterer. Intensity of -ray obtained in each detector is proportional to the
differential cross section of Compton scattering & also to the angular distribution function. As for
every gamma entering the scatterer, there are two states of polarization, so:-
d d
N   W ( ,   00 ) ( ,   900 )  W ( ,   900 ) ( ,   00 ) and
d d

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 d d
N ||  W ( ,   00 ) ( ,   90 0 )  W ( ,   900 ) ( ,   00 )
d d
Where,  and  are the angles of electric vector (E) relative to the reaction and Compton scattering
plane.  = 90 -  for N and  =  for N||.
Experimentally, the linear polarization is defined as:
A( )
P( ) 
Q( , E )

d d
aN   N|| ( ,   900 )  ( ,   00 )
With A( )  and Q( , E )  d d
aN   N|| d d
( ,   900 )  ( ,   00 )
d d
Where A() is the asymmetry with a as the the normalization constant can be found by taking the
ratio of N to N|| for unpolarized gamma rays emitted from a standard calibration source and Q(; E)
is polarization sensitivity. Q(; E) depends on the Compton-scattering angle , and E and is
maximum near  = 900 for a given E. P = -ve for Magnetic transition & +ve for Electric transition.
Table 2: Measured linear polarization values and spin-parity assignments for gamma rays with a
pure M1 and E2 type transitions observed in the reaction 154Sm(,3n)155Gd at 35 MeV beam energy.

E (keV) Polarization (P) Type Transition (Ji - Jf)

161.2 -0.477 (140) M1 13/2- - 11/2-

181.4 -0.222 (88) M1 15/2- - 13/2-

199.7 -0.027 (27) M1 17/2- - 15/2-

209.6 0.285 (47) E2 17/2+ - 13/2+

3. Summary : The spin and parity of important nuclear properties. Knowing the spin and parity of a
nuclear eigen state can reveal the underlying single particle configurations involved in the formation
of that state. Both, the spin and parity of a nuclear state can be determined experimentally. The spin
can be obtained by determining the multipole order and the dipole-quadrupole mixing ratio () of the
outgoing gamma radiation. To get the two parameters, measuring DCO ratio is better than the
angular distribution, accurate measurements need multi-detector array. The parity of a nuclear state
can be obtained by measuring the polarization of outgoing gamma rays. It can be concluded that the
investigation of DCO ratios allows the determination of spins and dipole-quadrupole mixing ratios.

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