https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00451-6
Regular Article – Experimental Physics
Accessing tens-to-hundreds femtoseconds nuclear state lifetimes with low-energy binary heavy-ion reactions
1
Institute of Nuclear Physics, PAN, 31-342, Kraków, Poland
2
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy
3
INFN Sezione di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133, Milan, Italy
4
Institut für Kernphysik, Universität zu Köln, 50937, Cologne, Germany
5
GANIL, CEA/DRF-CNRS/IN2P3, BP 55027, Bd. Henri Becquerel, 14076, Caen, France
6
CNRS/IN2P3, IPHC UMR 7178, 67037, Strasbourg, France
7
Department of Physics, Science and Art Faculty, Nigde Omer Halisdemir University, Nigde, Turkey
8
University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
9
FLNR, JINR, 141980, Dubna, Russia
10
Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
11
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131, Padua, Italy
12
INFN Sezione di Padova, 35131, Padua, Italy
13
IPN Orsay Laboratory, Orsay, France
14
Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), Grenoble, France
15
Heavy Ion Laboratory, University of Warsaw, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
16
Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 60439, Argonne, IL, USA
17
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 400005, Mumbai, India
18
INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, 35020, Legnaro, Italy
19
IFIN-HH, Bucharest, Romania
20
Università degli Studi di Napoli and INFN sez., Naples, Italy
21
IRFU/CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
a
Michal.Ciemala@ifj.edu.pl
d
Silvia.Leoni@mi.infn.it
e
Bogdan.Fornal@ifj.edu.pl
Received:
9
December
2020
Accepted:
29
March
2021
Published online:
3
May
2021
A novel Monte Carlo technique has been developed to determine lifetimes of excited states in the tens-to-hundreds femtoseconds range in products of low-energy heavy-ion binary reactions, with complex velocity distributions. The method is based on a detailed study of Doppler-broadened 
-ray lineshapes. Its relevance is demonstrated in connection with the 
experiment, performed at GANIL with the AGATA+VAMOS+PARIS setup, to study neutron-rich O, C, N, ... nuclei. Excited states in 
and 
, with known lifetimes, are used to validate the method over the 
lifetime-sensitivity range. Emphasis is given to the unprecedented position resolution provided by -tracking arrays, which turns out to be essential for reaching the required accuracy in Doppler-shift correction. The technique is anticipated to be an important tool for lifetime investigations in exotic neutron-rich nuclei, produced with intense ISOL-type beams.
© The Author(s) 2021
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