STUDIES OF 48Ni USING THE OPTICAL TIME PROJECTION CHAMBER

The decay of the extremely neutron deficient {sup 48}Ni was studied by means of an imaging time projection chamber which allowed recording tracks of charged particles. Four decays with two-proton tracks clearly corresponding to two-proton radioactivity were registered, providing the first direct evidence for this decay mode in {sup 48}Ni. The half-life of {sup 48}Ni is determined to be T{sub 1/2} = 2.1{sub -0.4}{sup +1.4} ms. The measured decay energy is 1.28(6) MeV.