Laser-Assisted Nuclear Decay Spectroscopy Of Au-176,Au-177,Au-179

A study of the laser-ionized and mass-separated neutron-deficient isotopes Au-176,Au-177,Au-179 was performed using the Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source and the Windmill detection setup at ISOLDE, CERN. New and improved data on complex fine-structure alpha decays of the three isotopes were deduced, providing insight into the low-lying levels in the daughter nuclei Ir-172,Ir-173,Ir-175. New information on the properties of beta-decay daughter products Pt-177,Pt-179 was also obtained. From the first in-source laser spectroscopy measurements of the hyperfine structure in the atomic 267.6-nm transition of Au-176, the nuclear magnetic moments for both high- and low-spin alpha-decaying states were deduced. Together with the values determined from the additivity relations, they were used to propose the most probable spins and configurations for both states. The a-decay branching ratios were determined as b(alpha)(Au-176(1s)) = 58(5)% and b(alpha)(Au-176(hs)) = 29 (5)%.