Lifetimes in 32S

Abstract
Lifetimes have been measured for five levels in 32S. The levels were populated by inelastic scattering of protons, and the gamma rays were detected at angles between 0° and 127° using a 40 cm3 Ge(Li) detector mounted inside a split annular NaI(Tl) crystal. The spectrometer was used simultaneously as both an escape-suppressed and a three-crystal pair spectrometer. Decay schemes and lifetimes have been determined using thick targets of PbS, MoS2, and sulfur cooled to 77 °K. Lifetime information was obtained both from analysis of the observed gamma-ray line shapes and from analysis of the Doppler shift attenuation in the different target materials. The two methods of analysis agree within the errors. A weak ground-state transition was observed from the J = 3 level at 5.012 MeV, establishing its parity as negative. Analysis of the line shape observed at 0° and the Doppler shift attenuation gave an average lifetime of 7.5 ± 0.5 × 10−13 s. The observed branching ratio (4 ± 0.4% to the ground state) implies an E3 enhancement of 20 ± 2.4 Weisskopf units (W.u.). A similar analysis gave a lifetime of 4.9 ± 0.9 × 10−13 s for the J = 1 level at 4.699 MeV, which implies that the dipole transition to the ground state is highly retarded. Lifetimes have also been measured for levels at 3.780 MeV , 4.288 MeV (7.4 ± 0.6 × 10−14 s), and 5410 MeV (1.9 ± 0.2 × 10−13 s); the transition strengths are tabulated and discussed.
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