title: Precision Lifetime Measurements Using the Recoil Distance Method.
abstract: The recoil distance method (RDM) for the measurements of lifetimes of excited nuclear levels in the range from about 1 ps to 1000 ps is reviewed. The New Yale Plunger Device for RDM experiments is introduced and the Differential Decay Curve Method for their analysis is reviewed. Results from recent RDM experiments on SD bands in the mass-190 region, shears bands in the neutron deficient lead isotopes, and ground state bands in the mass-130 region are presented. Perspectives for the use of RDM measurements in the study of neutron-rich nuclei are discussed.
authors.affiliation: A. W. Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory, Physics Department, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krücken
keywords: Gammasphere; New Yale Plunger Device; differential decay-curve method; groundstate deformation; magnetic rotation; nuclear level lifetimes; nuclear structure; recoil distance method; shears bands; superdeformation