The ¹³⁰Nd↦¹³⁰Pr↦¹³⁰Ce decay chain revisited

An investigation of low-lying energy levels of Pr-130 and Ce-130 has been made via beta-decay. The (MO)-M-94,96 + Ca-40 reactions at 6.8 MeV/nucleon and transported by a He-jet system. Gamma-gamma-t, gamma-X-t, gamma-e(-)-t coincidence measurements were performed. Internal conversion coefficients have been measured with a magnetic spectrometer. The new beta-decay half-life of Nd-130 has been determined to be 21(3) s. A partial level scheme of Pr-130 at low-spin has been constructed, The beta-decay of Pr-130 to Ce-130 suggests the existence of three beta-instable isomeric states in Pr-130, while only one half-life T-1/2 = 40(4) s has been measured. Based on the present work and low-lying excited states in neighbouring odd-mass nuclei, the spins and parities of isomeric states in Pr-130 are proposed to be 2(+),(4,5)(+) and (7.8(-/+)). The ground state in Pr-130 is still undetermined.