Nuclear level densities and γ -ray strength functions of Sn 111,112,113 isotopes studied with the Oslo method

Abstract

The 111,112,113Sn isotopes have been studied with (p,dγ), (p,p′γ), and (d,pγ) reactions to extract the nuclear level densities (NLDs) and γ-ray strength functions (GSFs) of these nuclei below the neutron separation energy by means of the Oslo method. The experimental NLDs for all three nuclei demonstrate a trend compatible with the constant-temperature model below the neutron separation energy while also being in good agreement with the NLDs of neighboring Sn isotopes, obtained previously with the Oslo-type and neutron evaporation experiments. The extracted microcanonical entropies yield ≈1.5 kB entropy of a valence neutron in both 111Sn and 113Sn. Moreover, the deduced microcanonical temperatures indeed suggest a clear constant-temperature behavior above ≈3 MeV in 111,113Sn and above ≈4.5 MeV in 112Sn. We observe signatures for the first broken neutron pairs between 2 and 4 MeV in all three nuclei. The GSFs obtained with the Oslo method are found to be in good agreement below the neutron threshold with the strengths of 112,114Sn extracted in the (p,p′) Coulomb excitation experiments.