Lifetime measurements in the A ∼ 120 mass region

Unstable tellurium isotopes and their daughters near the valley of stability feature long-lived states that are important for both fundamental studies and applications. As many of the existing half-lives in this mass region stem from early studies several decades ago, modern instrumentation and methods can be employed to provide important updates. In this framework, the present study reports on the work carried at IFIN–HH focused around the measurement of half-lives in the decay chains of 115,117 Te initially populated via the 107 , 109 A g ( 11 B , x n ) 118 − x , 120 − x Te reactions. The measurements have employed the high-energy resolution ROSPHERE detection array and the activation method. The results provide updated half-life values for the ground states of 117 Te and 115,117 Sb and are compared to existing literature values. While a significant improvement in precision is achieved for 117 Te, for the Sb isotopes the present measurements provide independent and methodologically consistent values, albeit with larger uncertainties.