Experimental study of the lifetime and phase transition in neutron-rich ^98,100,102Zr

Rapid shape changes are observed for neutron-rich nuclei with A around 100. In particular, a sudden onset of ground-state deformation is observed in the Zr and Sr isotopic chains at N = 60: Low-lying states in N ≤ 58 nuclei are nearly spherical, while those with N ≥ 60 have a rotational character. Nuclear lifetimes as short as a few picoseconds can be measured using fast-timing techniques with LaBr₃(Ce) scintillators, yielding a key ingredient in the systematic study of the shape evolution in this region. We used neutron-induced fission of ²⁴¹Pu and ²³⁵U to study lifetimes of excited states in fission fragments in the A approx 100 region with the EXILL-FATIMA array located at the PF1B cold neutron beam line at the Institut Laue-Langevin. In particular, we applied the generalized centroid difference method to deduce lifetimes of low-lying states for the nuclei ⁹⁸Zr (N = 58), ¹⁰⁰Zr, and ¹⁰²Zr (N ≥ 60). The results are discussed in the context of the presumed phase transition in the Zr chain by comparing the experimental transition strengths with the theoretical calculations using the interacting boson model and the Monte Carlo shell model. (authors)