Gamma decay from the quasicontinuum of 197,198Au

Abstract

The average electromagnetic dipole response of levels in the quasicontinuum of 197,198Au has been measured using (3He,3He ) and (d,p) reactions. The extracted γ -ray strength functions have been normalized according to three model assumptions for the nuclear spin distribution. An enhancement in the energy region Eγ = 3.0–6.5 MeV is observed for both isotopes. The E1 component of such excess of strength is studied in detail for 198Au and is interpreted as the pygmy dipole resonance with an energy centroid of 5.9(1) MeV and exhausts about 1% of the total integrated strength. The pygmy dipole resonance is shown to have a significant impact on the calculated 197Au(n,γ ) 198Au cross section.