Probing the quantum phase transition near N ≈ 60 via mass measurements of technetium isotopes

Abstract

The masses of neutron-rich ^(104-106)Tc isotopes were measured using the JYFLTRAP double Penning trap and found to deviate from the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020 by-79(25), 40(12), and 94(41) keV, respectively. In the case of ^(105,106)Tc, the updated Q_(β) values are in agreement with a previous JYFLTRAP measurement, disagreeing with the values from the mass evaluation. The new mass values result in a more linear trend in two-neutron separation energies indicating that technetium (Z = 43) isotopes around N ≈ 60 are not a part of the island of shape coexistence around ^(100)Zr_(60).