Direct observation of the superallowed α-decay of 104Te

Ian Cox; Robert Grzywacz; T. T. King; K. P. Rykaczewski; S. Nishimura; R. Yokoyama; N. Fukuda; N. Kitamura; S. Go; C. Mazzocchi; J. M. Allmond; A. Augustyn; N. Braukman; P. Brionnet; A. Esmaylzadeh; J. Fischer; G. Garcia de Lorenzo; S. Hanai; D. Hoskins; N. Imai; K. Kolos; A. Korgul; B. Kreider; S. Michimasa; K. Nishio; V. Phong; T. J. Ruland; H. Sakurai; Y. Shimizu; A. Skruch; H. Suzuki; H. Takeda; Y. Togano; Z. Y. Xu; M. Yoshimoto

doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10581-w

Direct observation of the superallowed α-decay of ¹⁰⁴Te

Ian Cox
, Robert Grzywacz
, T. T. King
, K. P. Rykaczewski
, S. Nishimura
, R. Yokoyama
, N. Fukuda
, N. Kitamura
, S. Go
, C. Mazzocchi
, J. M. Allmond
, A. Augustyn
, N. Braukman
, P. Brionnet
, A. Esmaylzadeh
, J. Fischer
, G. Garcia de Lorenzo
, S. Hanai
, D. Hoskins
, N. Imai

K. Kolos, A. Korgul, B. Kreider, S. Michimasa, K. Nishio, V. Phong, T. J. Ruland, H. Sakurai, Y. Shimizu, A. Skruch, H. Suzuki, H. Takeda, Y. Togano, Z. Y. Xu, M. Yoshimoto

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The radioactivity of the α particle is among the most compelling evidence for the existence of cluster structures in atomic nuclei. During the decay process, a pre-existing α particle tunnels through the potential barrier formed by the residual nucleus^1,2. The degree of preformation of the α particle, a strongly bound system of two protons and two neutrons, is extracted from the data by dividing the α-decay probability by the barrier penetrability for a given particle energy. The preformation probability changes rapidly near nuclear shell closures, which is direct evidence that clustering is connected to nuclear structure³. Enhanced preformation was observed in the lightest α-particle emitters, spherical tellurium and xenon isotopes decaying to magic isotopes of tin. Here we show the most extreme case of α-particle preformation from the measurement of the decay of tellurium-104 (¹⁰⁴Te). With a half-life of 7.2−1.5+2.3ns, ¹⁰⁴Te is the fastest ground-state α-emitting nucleus known so far. The deduced preformation demonstrates that the enhancement is greater for ¹⁰⁴Te than for any other nucleus. One nuclear model that can explain our observation postulates that the α particle can exist only in the low-nuclear-matter-density regions on the surface of the nucleus. The uniquely high preformation for ¹⁰⁴Te is attributed to its relation to doubly magic tin-100 (¹⁰⁰Sn), creating conditions conducive to form an α particle.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	52-56
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	654
Issue number	8117
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10581-w
State	Published - Jun 4 2026

Funding

We would like to extend our gratitude to the entire RIBF operations team. Also, we would like to thank T. Papenbrock and K. L. Jones for helpful discussions. The material is based on work supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under contract nos. DE-FG02-96ER40983 (UTK) and DE-AC05-00OR22725 (ORNL), the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and the Polish National Science Center under grant no. 2020/39/B/ST2/02346 and contract no. UMO-2019/33/B/ST2/02908. This work was also sponsored by JSPS KAKENHI grant nos. 25H01273 and 24K0655, the RIKEN programme RiNA-Net, the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances programme through DOE awards no. DE-NA0003899 (UTK), the National Science Foundation NSF-MRI-1919735 (UTK), the Spanish MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 under grants TED2021-130592B-I00 (PROTOTWIN) and PID2021-126998OB-I00 (FASCINA) and supported by BMBF under Verbundprojekt 05P2021 (ErUM-FSP T07) grant 05P21PKFN1. A.E. was supported by the DFG under grant number JO 391/20-1. A.A. acknowledges support from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) under the STER Programme - Internationalisation of Doctoral Schools, project ‘International Doctoral Program at NCBJ & IChTJ’ (project no. BPI/STE/2021/1/00033/U/00001). This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (https://www.energy.gov/doe-public-access-plan). We would like to extend our gratitude to the entire RIBF operations team. Also, we would like to thank T. Papenbrock and K. L. Jones for helpful discussions. The material is based on work supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under contract nos. DE-FG02-96ER40983 (UTK) and DE-AC05-00OR22725 (ORNL), the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and the Polish National Science Center under grant no. 2020/39/B/ST2/02346 and contract no. UMO-2019/33/B/ST2/02908. This work was also sponsored by JSPS KAKENHI grant nos. 25H01273 and 24K0655, the RIKEN programme RiNA-Net, the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances programme through DOE awards no. DE-NA0003899 (UTK), the National Science Foundation NSF-MRI-1919735 (UTK), the Spanish MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 under grants TED2021-130592B-I00 (PROTOTWIN) and PID2021-126998OB-I00 (FASCINA) and supported by BMBF under Verbundprojekt 05P2021 (ErUM-FSP T07) grant 05P21PKFN1. A.E. was supported by the DFG under grant number JO 391/20-1. A.A. acknowledges support from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) under the STER Programme - Internationalisation of Doctoral Schools, project ‘International Doctoral Program at NCBJ & IChTJ’ (project no. BPI/STE/2021/1/00033/U/00001). This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( https://www.energy.gov/doe-public-access-plan ).

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Cite this

Cox, I., Grzywacz, R., King, T. T., Rykaczewski, K. P., Nishimura, S., Yokoyama, R., Fukuda, N., Kitamura, N., Go, S., Mazzocchi, C., Allmond, J. M., Augustyn, A., Braukman, N., Brionnet, P., Esmaylzadeh, A., Fischer, J., Garcia de Lorenzo, G., Hanai, S., Hoskins, D., ... Yoshimoto, M. (2026). Direct observation of the superallowed α-decay of ¹⁰⁴Te. Nature, 654(8117), 52-56. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10581-w

@article{87d974ced95c4f1fa345365f8f71fcaa,

title = "Direct observation of the superallowed α-decay of 104Te",

abstract = "The radioactivity of the α particle is among the most compelling evidence for the existence of cluster structures in atomic nuclei. During the decay process, a pre-existing α particle tunnels through the potential barrier formed by the residual nucleus1,2. The degree of preformation of the α particle, a strongly bound system of two protons and two neutrons, is extracted from the data by dividing the α-decay probability by the barrier penetrability for a given particle energy. The preformation probability changes rapidly near nuclear shell closures, which is direct evidence that clustering is connected to nuclear structure3. Enhanced preformation was observed in the lightest α-particle emitters, spherical tellurium and xenon isotopes decaying to magic isotopes of tin. Here we show the most extreme case of α-particle preformation from the measurement of the decay of tellurium-104 (104Te). With a half-life of 7.2−1.5+2.3ns, 104Te is the fastest ground-state α-emitting nucleus known so far. The deduced preformation demonstrates that the enhancement is greater for 104Te than for any other nucleus. One nuclear model that can explain our observation postulates that the α particle can exist only in the low-nuclear-matter-density regions on the surface of the nucleus. The uniquely high preformation for 104Te is attributed to its relation to doubly magic tin-100 (100Sn), creating conditions conducive to form an α particle.",

author = "Ian Cox and Robert Grzywacz and King, \{T. T.\} and Rykaczewski, \{K. P.\} and S. Nishimura and R. Yokoyama and N. Fukuda and N. Kitamura and S. Go and C. Mazzocchi and Allmond, \{J. M.\} and A. Augustyn and N. Braukman and P. Brionnet and A. Esmaylzadeh and J. Fischer and \{Garcia de Lorenzo\}, G. and S. Hanai and D. Hoskins and N. Imai and K. Kolos and A. Korgul and B. Kreider and S. Michimasa and K. Nishio and V. Phong and Ruland, \{T. J.\} and H. Sakurai and Y. Shimizu and A. Skruch and H. Suzuki and H. Takeda and Y. Togano and Xu, \{Z. Y.\} and M. Yoshimoto",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.",

year = "2026",

month = jun,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-026-10581-w",

language = "English",

volume = "654",

pages = "52--56",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

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number = "8117",

}

Cox, I, Grzywacz, R, King, TT , Rykaczewski, KP, Nishimura, S, Yokoyama, R, Fukuda, N, Kitamura, N, Go, S, Mazzocchi, C, Allmond, JM, Augustyn, A, Braukman, N, Brionnet, P, Esmaylzadeh, A, Fischer, J, Garcia de Lorenzo, G, Hanai, S, Hoskins, D, Imai, N, Kolos, K, Korgul, A, Kreider, B, Michimasa, S, Nishio, K, Phong, V, Ruland, TJ, Sakurai, H, Shimizu, Y, Skruch, A, Suzuki, H, Takeda, H, Togano, Y, Xu, ZY & Yoshimoto, M 2026, 'Direct observation of the superallowed α-decay of ¹⁰⁴Te', Nature, vol. 654, no. 8117, pp. 52-56. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10581-w

TY - JOUR

T1 - Direct observation of the superallowed α-decay of 104Te

AU - Cox, Ian

AU - Grzywacz, Robert

AU - King, T. T.

AU - Rykaczewski, K. P.

AU - Nishimura, S.

AU - Yokoyama, R.

AU - Fukuda, N.

AU - Kitamura, N.

AU - Go, S.

AU - Mazzocchi, C.

AU - Allmond, J. M.

AU - Augustyn, A.

AU - Braukman, N.

AU - Brionnet, P.

AU - Esmaylzadeh, A.

AU - Fischer, J.

AU - Garcia de Lorenzo, G.

AU - Hanai, S.

AU - Hoskins, D.

AU - Imai, N.

AU - Kolos, K.

AU - Korgul, A.

AU - Kreider, B.

AU - Michimasa, S.

AU - Nishio, K.

AU - Phong, V.

AU - Ruland, T. J.

AU - Sakurai, H.

AU - Shimizu, Y.

AU - Skruch, A.

AU - Suzuki, H.

AU - Takeda, H.

AU - Togano, Y.

AU - Xu, Z. Y.

AU - Yoshimoto, M.

PY - 2026/6/4

Y1 - 2026/6/4

N2 - The radioactivity of the α particle is among the most compelling evidence for the existence of cluster structures in atomic nuclei. During the decay process, a pre-existing α particle tunnels through the potential barrier formed by the residual nucleus1,2. The degree of preformation of the α particle, a strongly bound system of two protons and two neutrons, is extracted from the data by dividing the α-decay probability by the barrier penetrability for a given particle energy. The preformation probability changes rapidly near nuclear shell closures, which is direct evidence that clustering is connected to nuclear structure3. Enhanced preformation was observed in the lightest α-particle emitters, spherical tellurium and xenon isotopes decaying to magic isotopes of tin. Here we show the most extreme case of α-particle preformation from the measurement of the decay of tellurium-104 (104Te). With a half-life of 7.2−1.5+2.3ns, 104Te is the fastest ground-state α-emitting nucleus known so far. The deduced preformation demonstrates that the enhancement is greater for 104Te than for any other nucleus. One nuclear model that can explain our observation postulates that the α particle can exist only in the low-nuclear-matter-density regions on the surface of the nucleus. The uniquely high preformation for 104Te is attributed to its relation to doubly magic tin-100 (100Sn), creating conditions conducive to form an α particle.

AB - The radioactivity of the α particle is among the most compelling evidence for the existence of cluster structures in atomic nuclei. During the decay process, a pre-existing α particle tunnels through the potential barrier formed by the residual nucleus1,2. The degree of preformation of the α particle, a strongly bound system of two protons and two neutrons, is extracted from the data by dividing the α-decay probability by the barrier penetrability for a given particle energy. The preformation probability changes rapidly near nuclear shell closures, which is direct evidence that clustering is connected to nuclear structure3. Enhanced preformation was observed in the lightest α-particle emitters, spherical tellurium and xenon isotopes decaying to magic isotopes of tin. Here we show the most extreme case of α-particle preformation from the measurement of the decay of tellurium-104 (104Te). With a half-life of 7.2−1.5+2.3ns, 104Te is the fastest ground-state α-emitting nucleus known so far. The deduced preformation demonstrates that the enhancement is greater for 104Te than for any other nucleus. One nuclear model that can explain our observation postulates that the α particle can exist only in the low-nuclear-matter-density regions on the surface of the nucleus. The uniquely high preformation for 104Te is attributed to its relation to doubly magic tin-100 (100Sn), creating conditions conducive to form an α particle.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105040245214

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-026-10581-w

DO - 10.1038/s41586-026-10581-w

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105040245214

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 654

SP - 52

EP - 56

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 8117

ER -

Direct observation of the superallowed α-decay of ¹⁰⁴Te

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