Half-Life of ${}^{14}$O

Abstract

We have measured the half-life of ${}^{14}$O, a superallowed $(0^{+}\to 0^{+})$ ${\hat{I}}^2$ decay isotope. The ${}^{14}$O was produced by the ${}^{12}$C(${}^3$He,n)${}^{14}$O reaction using a carbon aerogel target. A low-energy ion beam of ${}^{14}$O was mass separated and implanted in a thin beryllium foil. The beta particles were counted with plastic scintillator detectors. We find $t_{1/2}=70.696\pm 0.052$ s. This result is $1.5\ddot{I}ƒ$ higher than an average value from six earlier experiments, but agrees more closely with the most recent previous measurement.

10 pages, 5 figures