Effect of a triaxial nuclear shape on proton tunneling: the decay and structure of 145Tm.

ABSTRACT

Gamma rays deexciting states in the proton emitter 145Tm were observed using the recoil-decay tagging method. The 145Tm ground-state rotational band was found to exhibit the properties expected for an h{11/2} proton decoupled band. In addition, coincidences between protons feeding the 2{+} state in 144Er and the 2{+}-->0{+} gamma-ray transition were detected, the first measurement of this kind, leading to a more precise value for the 2{+} excitation energy of 329(1) keV. Calculations with the particle-rotor model and the core quasiparticle coupling model indicate that the properties of the pi{11/2} band and the proton-decay rates in 145Tm are consistent with the presence of triaxiality with an asymmetry parameter gamma approximately 20 degrees .