Coulomb Excitation of the N = 50 nucleus 80 Zn

Abstract

Neutron rich Zinc isotopes, including the N = 50 nucleus 80Zn, were produced and post-Accelerated at the Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facility REX-ISOLDE (CERN). Low-energy Coulomb excitation was induced on these isotopes after post-Acceleration, yielding B(E2) strengths to the first excited 2+ states. For the first time, an excited state in 80Zn was observed and the 21+ state in 78Zn was established. The measured B(E2,21+→01+) values are compared to two sets of large scale shell model calculations. Both calculations reproduce the observed B(E2) systematics for the full Zinc isotopic chain. The results for N = 50 isotones indicate a good N = 50 shell closure and a strong Z = 28 proton core polarization. The new results serve as benchmarks to establish theoretical models, predicting the nuclear properties of the doubly magic nucleus 78Ni.