Investigation of 74As decay branching ratio dependence on the host material

TL;DR

This study measures the decay branching ratio of 74As in various host materials and finds no significant dependence, also confirming the half-life consistency across different hosts, thus setting limits on host influence.

Contribution

It provides the first systematic measurement of 74As decay in multiple host materials and establishes an upper limit on host dependence of its decay rate.

Findings

No significant change in decay branching ratio across materials

Half-life measurements consistent with literature

Sets upper limit on host material influence

Abstract

The branching ratio between the beta- and beta+/electron capture decay of 74As has been measured in different host materials such as Ta, Al, Ge and mylar. No significant dependence of the branching ratio on the host material has been observed. The half-life of 74As has also been measured in metallic Ta and in semiconductor Ge, no difference has been found and the results are in agreement with the literature value. The obtained results provide an upper limit for the possible host material dependence of the decay rate in 74As.