Neutron single-particle states populated via proton emission from ¹⁴⁶Tm and ¹⁵⁰Lu

Proton emission from the odd-odd nuclei ¹⁴⁶Tm and ¹⁵⁰Lu has been reinvestigated by means of the recoil mass spectrometer. In the ¹⁴⁶Tm study, the strongest proton transitions at 1.12 MeV and at 1.19 MeV have been assigned to the decay of ^146mTm (T_1/2=200±10 ms) and to the ¹⁴⁶Tm decay (T_1/2=80±10 ms), respectively. Three new proton lines were identified at 0.89 MeV, 0.94 MeV, and 1.01 MeV. The observed decay pattern has been interpreted by using spherical estimates of emission probabilities. The decays of ^146m,gsTm to the vs _1/2 ¹⁴⁵Er ground state and to excited neutron states originating from the vh_11/2 orbital are reported. This work represents the first observation of fine structure in proton emission from an odd-odd nucleus. In the ¹⁵⁰Lu study, the proton energy and half-life values of E_p= 1277±8 keV and T_1/2=39 _-6⁺⁸μs for the decay of ^150mLu were obtained with better precision, but no evidence for fine structure in the proton emission was found.