Radioactive Decay of Ruthenium-97

Abstract

Ruthenium enriched in mass 96 was irradiated for short and long periods in the pile and the radioactivity of ${\mathrm{Ru}}^{97}$, produced by neutron capture, was studied by magnetic and scintillation spectrometers. Several gamma rays not previously reported were found to exist. The observed gamma rays in ${\mathrm{Tc}}^{97}$, following $K$ capture in ${\mathrm{Ru}}^{97}$, have energies of 109.1, 216.1, 325.1, and 570 kev. A long-lived metastable state in ${\mathrm{Tc}}^{97}$ decays by the emission of gamma rays whose conversion electrons indicate gamma energies of 90.2 and 99.2 kev. The multipolarities of most of the transitions are determined and a satisfactory nuclear level scheme is proposed.