New Isotope Discovered

 


A new plutonium isotope has been discovered, it is called plutonium-227. A study was recently published in Physical Review C. The researchers are from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). 

Shell closures are the magic number of proton and neutrons. In previous research, analysis revealed a weakening of the neutron shell closure 126 up to uranium. Scientists are interested in exploring whether the shell closure would fade in the transuranium region.

Professor Gan Zaiguo is from the IMP. He explains, "We have discovered the presence of the shell closure in neptunium isotopes through a series of experiments. However, due to the absence of experimental data, the robustness of this closure in plutonium isotopes remains unknown."

Scientists wanted to probe for unknown plutonium isotopes. The researchers at IMP and the team performed an experiment at the gas-filled recoil separator. The device is called the Spectrometer for Heavy Atoms and Nuclear Structure. It is located at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL) in China.

The researchers synthesized plutonium-227 by using the fission evaporation reaction. Plutonium-227 is the 39th new isotope discovered by IMP. It is a very neutron-deficient plutonium isotope. It is the first plutonium isotope discovered by Chinese researchers.

Scientists observed nine decay chains. They measured the particle's energy and half-life. The data fit well into the properties of known plutonium isotopes.

The team hopes to continue this research, specifically to gain more understanding of the shell evolution in plutonium.

Dr. Yang Huabin is from the IMP and is first author of the study. He summarizes, "The newly discovered plutonium-227 is still seven neutrons away from the magic number of 126. To study the robustness of the shell closure in plutonium, it is necessary to continue research of even lighter plutonium isotopes, including plutonium-221 to plutonium-226."

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