Internal conversion in 137m Ba with MCA

Principle

The radiation emitted during the decay of the ¹³⁷Cs isotope is measured with a scintillation detector and the energyspectrum determined with a pulse height analyzer. The spectrum contains fractions due to a gamma-transition and fractions originating from a characteristic X-ray radiation. The areas of the fractions in question are determined and the conversion factor obtained from them.

Tasks

1. Measurement of the g-spectrum of ¹³⁷Cs using a scintillation detector.
2. Determination of the conversion factor of the ¹³⁷mBa excited nucleus.

Learning objectives

• g-radiation
• Nuclear transitions
• Transition probability
• Duration
• Metastable states
• Isotopic spin quantum Numbers
• Rules governing selection
• Multipole radiation
• Isomeric nuclei
• Photonuclear reaction
• Conversion electron
• Characteristic X-ray radiation
• Scintillation detectors