ABSTRACT

Proton-rich nuclei have always proven to be an excellent source of exotic decay modes. Although standard ß± and alpha particle decay have long been decay measurement standards, beta-delayed particle emission has become a preferred probe as experiments proceed further from stability. Primarily due to experimental accessibility, much of this work has been concentrated in the light proton-rich nuclei. However, the lower efficiencies of general purpose mass separators relative to other techniques make the study of nuclides with low production cross sections difficult. The characterization of proton-rich light nuclei even further from beta stability will require many new and novel techniques not only to study beta-delayed two-proton emitters, but also for the observation of ground-state and two-proton radioactivity. The general problems which need to be overcome involve the very small production cross sections, the quite short half-lives, and the need, particularly in many higher mass ß2p precursors, to detect low proton energies.