Beta-Delayed Multiparticle Emission Studies at ISOL-type Facilities Original Research Article

We report here on the recent β-decay studies made at ISOL-type Facilities to determine the multiparticle breakup mechanism of excited states in light nuclei by studying them in full kinematics. In particular the results obtained for the A = 9 isobars and the breakup of the 12.7 MeV state in 12C of unnatural parity are discussed. The breakup of the latter has been debated since more than a decade. Mirror beta transitions in the A=9 chain are compared and a large asymmetry factor is deduced for the transitions to high excitation energy in 9Be (11.8 MeV) and 9B (12.2 MeV) fed in the β-decay of 9Li and 9C respectively. It is shown that the asymmetry is not due to experimental problems or differences in the mechanisms of breakup or in the spin of the states. As no asymmetry is found in the gs to gs transition it must be due to the particular structure of these excited states. The controversy on the breakup mechanism of the 12.7 MeV state is resolved.