Photonuclear reaction: Experimental determination of energy levels and half-lives of rubidium and barium isotopes

The photonuclear reactions were one of the nuclear physics experiments which were for the first time studied extensively in the 1970's and were performed using the gamma rays obtained via Bremsstrahlung. In this study, rubidium and barium samples were irradiated with photons produced by a clinical linear electron accelerator (c-LINAC) with energies up to 18 MeV. The activated samples were measured with a high purity germanium detector (HPGe) with the aim of determining the energy levels and half-lives. The computer codes; Maestro, Gf3 and Root were used for obtaining and analyzing the spectrum. The obtained spectroscopic data were analyzed with statistical errors and energy levels and half-live values were obtained. In this study, some energy levels and half-life of 84mRb and 129Ba have been determined with more precision than those of literature values. According to the results obtained, the best energy value of 84mRb was determined as 248.02±0.005 keV and half-life value was determined as 20.30±0.03 minute; and the best energy value of 129Ba was determined as 214.185±0.011 keV and half-life value was determined as 2.28±0.05 hour. The results for both energies and half-lives further demonstrate that the clinical linear accelerators can be successfully used as an efficient tool in experimental nuclear research endeavors.