Alpha-spectroscopy of Cf-252 decays: A new approach to searching for the octoneutron

TL;DR

This paper proposes using alpha spectroscopy as a novel method to detect octoneutron emission from Cf-252 decays, offering an alternative to gamma spectroscopy for identifying this rare neutron cluster.

Contribution

It introduces alpha spectroscopy as a new approach to search for octoneutrons in Cf-252, expanding detection techniques beyond gamma spectroscopy.

Findings

Alpha spectroscopy can potentially identify octoneutron emission.

The method offers an alternative to gamma spectroscopy.

It enhances the toolkit for rare neutron cluster detection.

Abstract

Recently an experimental evidence of emission of neutron clusters consisting of eight neutrons - octoneutrons was reported. The experiment was based on the search for daughter nuclei associated with the octoneutron radioactivity of the Cf-252 nucleus. The effect of long-time build-up of daughter nuclei with a long half-life and gamma spectroscopy was utilized. In this paper we consider the alpha spectroscopy as an alternative method of searching for octoneutron in Cf-252 decays.