Trap-assisted separation of nuclear states for gamma-ray spectroscopy: the example of 100Nb

Low-lying levels in Mo-100 are known to be populated by beta decay from both the ground and isomeric states in Nb-100. The small energy difference (similar to 3 ppm) between the two parent states and the similarity of their half-lives make it difficult to distinguish experimentally between the two decay paths. A new technique for separating different states of nuclei has recently been developed in a series of experiments at the IGISOL facility, using the JYFLTRAP installation, at the University of Jyvaskyla where mass resolution similar to 2 ppm was achieved in mass measurements and in the production of Xe-133m. This paper reports on the extension of this technique to allow the separate study of the gamma-ray decay of levels populated by the different parent states.