Decay of ⁶¹Cu; Energy levels of ⁶¹Ni

Abstract

The decay of ⁶¹Cu has been studied using a 5 cm³ Ge(Li) 7.6 cm × 7.6 cm NaI coincidence spectrometer and a 30 cm³ Ge(Li) detector. A total of 31 gamma rays was observed. Decays from ten levels in ⁶¹Ni were observed at 67.20±0.14, 283.63±0.17, 655.96±0.15, 908.85±0.30, 1099.62±0.30, 1131.76±0.45, 1185.22±0.22, 1609.92±0.030, 1729.59±0.25 and 2124.8±1 keV. A possible level is also suggested at 1997 keV. The linearity of the Ge(Li) spectrometer system was studied by observation of the gamma rays emitted in the decay of ¹⁴⁷Nd. This study also yielded precision energy measurements for the ¹⁴⁷Nd gamma rays. Relative intensity measurements for the gamma rays involved in the ⁶¹Cu decay are also given. The half-life of ⁶¹Cu was measured as 204.5±0.6 min. Coincidence measurements were performed to establish the placement of the stronger gamma rays observed in the decay. The proposed decay scheme for ⁶¹Cu is presented, discussed and compared with other recent Ge(Li) measurements.