Production and isomeric ratio of long-lived 11/2− xenon isomers at ISOLDE, CERN

Abstract

The production of long-lived xenon 11/2 − isomers 129 m Xe, 131 m Xe, and 133 m Xe is crucial for the GAMMA-MRI project, which aims to develop a novel imaging technique based on the magnetic resonance of polarized unstable tracers. In this work, we study the production of these isomers via 1.4 GeV proton-induced nuclear reactions on a uranium target at ISOLDE, CERN, using several experimental setups. This approach allowed us to determine the main contaminants and extract the isomeric ratio of the 11/2 − and 3/2 + nuclear states using direct and indirect measurement techniques.