Half-Life of 67 Cu

Abstract

The half life of 67Cu was determined through serial gamma ray spectrometry measurements of the dominant gamma emission produced following beta decay. Data were collected consecutively for 1000 s per measurement, with a total of 3063 measurements over the duration of 36 days. The incidence rate for the 184.6 keV gamma ray was determined from the spectral peak area and duration of each measurement. This rate was then corrected to account for detector dead time, radioactive decay during each acquisition and drift in the computer clock in comparison to NIST nuclear clock. Least-squares regression analysis was performed to determine the half-life of 67Cu. The result was 61.761 ± 0.004 h, which is the highest precision measurement to date, and marks a 24-fold precision improvement over the current Nuclear Data Sheets value.

Publication
In Journal of Physics Communications