Mass Measurements of Neutron-Deficient Yb Isotopes and Nuclear Structure at the Extreme Proton-Rich Side of the N=82 Shell

Abstract

High-accuracy mass measurements of neutron-deficient Yb isotopes have been performed at TRIUMF using TITAN's multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS). For the first time, an MR-TOF-MS was used on line simultaneously as an isobar separator and as a mass spectrometer, extending the measurements to two isotopes further away from stability than otherwise possible. The ground state masses of Yb150,153 and the excitation energy of Ybm151 were measured for the first time. As a result, the persistence of the N=82 shell with almost unmodified shell gap energies is established up to the proton drip line. Furthermore, the puzzling systematics of the h11/2-excited isomeric states of the N=81 isotones are unraveled using state-of-the-art mean field calculations.