Search for ${}^{34}{Si}$ ions in ${}^{241}{Am}$ decay

An experiment has been performed to measure the spontaneous fission branch of

{}^{241}{Am}

and to search for decay events by emission of

{}^{34}{Si}

nuclei. Lexan polycarbonate foils were used for the detection of decay fragments. Tracks produced in the foils by 81 MeV

{}^{28}{Si}

ions from an accelerator and fission fragments from a

{}^{248}{Cm}

source were compared with those produced by particles emitted from a 0.5 mCi

{}^{241}{Am}

source. We identified 33 fission fragments corresponding to a fission/alpha branching ratio of (2.4±0.5)×

10^{- 12}

, in fair agreement with previous measurements. No

{}^{34}{Si}

tracks were observed which results in an upper limit of 4.2×

10^{- 13}

for the

{}^{34}{Si}

/alpha ratio at the 90% confidence level. Two theoretical calculations predict values of 4.0×

10^{- 13}

and 1.1×

10^{- 15}

for this branching.

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Search forSi34ions inAm241decay