Direct observation of the superallowed α decay of 104Te

Direct observation of the superallowed α decay of 104Te | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Direct observation of the superallowed α decay of 104 Te Ian Cox, Robert Grzywacz, Thomas King, Krzysztof Rykaczewski, and 31 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7991707/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Alpha particle radioactivity is one of the most striking evidence for the existence of cluster structures in atomic nuclei. During the decay process, a preexisting α particle tunnels through the potential barrier formed by the residual nucleus [1,2]. The degree of preformation of the α particle, a strongly bound system of two protons and two neutrons, is extracted from the data by dividing the α-decay probability by the barrier penetrability for a given particle energy. The preformation probability changes rapidly near nuclear shell closures, which is direct evidence that clustering is connected to nuclear structure [3]. Enhanced preformation was observed in the lightest α-particle emitters, spherical tellurium and xenon isotopes decaying to magic isotopes of tin. Here, we show the most extreme case of α-particle preformation from the measurement of the decay of tellurium-104. With a half-life of 7.2 +2.3 -1.5 nanoseconds, tellurium-104 is the fastest ground state α-emitting nucleus known to date. The deduced preformation demonstrates that the enhancement is greater for tellurium-104 than for any other nucleus. One nuclear model that can explain our observation postulates that the α particle can exist only in the low nuclear matter density regions on the surface of the nucleus. The uniquely high preformation for tellurium-104 is attributed to its relation to doubly-magic tin-100, creating conditions conducive to form an α particle. Physical sciences/Physics/Nuclear physics/Experimental nuclear physics Physical sciences/Physics/Techniques and instrumentation Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7991707","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":544701054,"identity":"83bb1e28-96e2-4aa0-8989-f020ee32b8c8","order_by":0,"name":"Ian Cox","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNgglIccPohIKiNdiYyzZANJiQLxlaYkbDoBoYrTwsZ89+OFj22HGzedXJ354YMAgzy92gIDDePKSJWecOcxsduPtZgmgwwxnzk4goIUhx4yZp+Iwm9mNsxtAWhIMbhPSwv8GqMXgMI/xjLObfxCnRQJsS5qEAX/vNiJtkXhjDPSLjYHEDd5tFgkGEoT9It+fYwgMMYn6/v6zm2/+qLCR55cmoAUBJMAqJYhVDgL8B0hRPQpGwSgYBSMJAAAktD9HVxV0+QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6807-3658","institution":"University of Tennessee, Knoxville","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ian","middleName":"","lastName":"Cox","suffix":""},{"id":544701055,"identity":"6cd4eb1a-c9dc-41aa-9eb9-acb123b29df1","order_by":1,"name":"Robert Grzywacz","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tennessee, Knoxville","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Robert","middleName":"","lastName":"Grzywacz","suffix":""},{"id":544701056,"identity":"5a5f8e8d-ab35-4a2e-a97b-e4ffd67ac380","order_by":2,"name":"Thomas King","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Oak Ridge National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thomas","middleName":"","lastName":"King","suffix":""},{"id":544701057,"identity":"de9000f1-b706-4cdc-8083-fc88ac500524","order_by":3,"name":"Krzysztof Rykaczewski","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5717-3418","institution":"Oak Ridge National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Krzysztof","middleName":"","lastName":"Rykaczewski","suffix":""},{"id":544701058,"identity":"76fb51d1-f915-45af-803a-a96b8ea1ac18","order_by":4,"name":"Shunji Nishimura","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shunji","middleName":"","lastName":"Nishimura","suffix":""},{"id":544701059,"identity":"45fe643d-4305-4db8-be1a-cbf54fe52244","order_by":5,"name":"Rin Yokoyama","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tokyo, Center for Nuclear Study","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rin","middleName":"","lastName":"Yokoyama","suffix":""},{"id":544701060,"identity":"c0465689-5474-4c16-b7bd-3f94c64fe411","order_by":6,"name":"Naoki Fukuda","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Naoki","middleName":"","lastName":"Fukuda","suffix":""},{"id":544701061,"identity":"2d34d0f6-4fcf-41e6-bb1f-17dc6cdf07fb","order_by":7,"name":"Noritaka Kitamura","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Tokyo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Noritaka","middleName":"","lastName":"Kitamura","suffix":""},{"id":544701062,"identity":"d92397ad-2c09-4379-9518-550b6fdf3b33","order_by":8,"name":"Shintaro Go","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN Nishina Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shintaro","middleName":"","lastName":"Go","suffix":""},{"id":544701063,"identity":"0cb7165b-c02f-49b0-a011-e149dac42753","order_by":9,"name":"Chiara Mazzocchi","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2503-5413","institution":"Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chiara","middleName":"","lastName":"Mazzocchi","suffix":""},{"id":544701064,"identity":"60123fdc-36a3-4d5e-a31c-a1b31960ec79","order_by":10,"name":"James Allmond","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6533-8721","institution":"Oak Ridge National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"James","middleName":"","lastName":"Allmond","suffix":""},{"id":544701065,"identity":"5a66d1b3-c2e7-4044-9ffd-09eaa3604818","order_by":11,"name":"Aleksander Augustyn","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3055-1179","institution":"National Centre For Nuclear Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aleksander","middleName":"","lastName":"Augustyn","suffix":""},{"id":544701066,"identity":"d70c188c-533e-4d09-aa95-0aef1a05a553","order_by":12,"name":"Nico Braukman","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4666-0440","institution":"Universtity of Tennessee, Knoxville","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nico","middleName":"","lastName":"Braukman","suffix":""},{"id":544701067,"identity":"4506ecf8-4f85-4f45-9e29-48ec6aece985","order_by":13,"name":"Pierre Brionnet","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN Nishina Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pierre","middleName":"","lastName":"Brionnet","suffix":""},{"id":544701068,"identity":"bba5c6a7-73f1-4dc2-ab5e-e448366c4b5b","order_by":14,"name":"Arwin Esmaylzadeh","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0408-3774","institution":"Universitat zu Köln","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Arwin","middleName":"","lastName":"Esmaylzadeh","suffix":""},{"id":544701069,"identity":"be21ff6b-12a7-4f28-9d75-bf06a2be89c4","order_by":15,"name":"Julia Fischer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institut für Kernphysik, Universität zu Köln","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Julia","middleName":"","lastName":"Fischer","suffix":""},{"id":544701070,"identity":"68987583-98f7-499b-8fd2-49d9326caa6e","order_by":16,"name":"Gabriel Garcia de Lorenzo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad Complutense de Madrid","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gabriel","middleName":"Garcia","lastName":"de Lorenzo","suffix":""},{"id":544701071,"identity":"be416f59-0ed5-4b89-b79e-636b9bc9a569","order_by":17,"name":"Shutaro Hanai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tokyo, Center for Nuclear Study","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shutaro","middleName":"","lastName":"Hanai","suffix":""},{"id":544701072,"identity":"4839c24a-709f-48cd-ae41-2bdbf6e2029f","order_by":18,"name":"Donnie Hoskins III","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tennessee, Knoxville","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Donnie","middleName":"Hoskins","lastName":"III","suffix":""},{"id":544701073,"identity":"7bd6a92e-bd62-4780-981f-a8439ae0f962","order_by":19,"name":"Nobuaki Imai","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8864-369X","institution":"the University of Tokyo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nobuaki","middleName":"","lastName":"Imai","suffix":""},{"id":544701074,"identity":"71ee8f2c-00d7-406e-9355-4bb2a0251861","order_by":20,"name":"Kay Kolos","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kay","middleName":"","lastName":"Kolos","suffix":""},{"id":544701075,"identity":"9e508003-5c9c-4373-bc88-d77e3ee888fc","order_by":21,"name":"Agnieszka Korgul","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0316-170X","institution":"Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Agnieszka","middleName":"","lastName":"Korgul","suffix":""},{"id":544701076,"identity":"b62ed7b1-60cf-44fe-9edf-ecb538977db4","order_by":22,"name":"Ben Kreider","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tennessee, Knoxville","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ben","middleName":"","lastName":"Kreider","suffix":""},{"id":544701077,"identity":"bdb26835-8331-4987-9e34-2495af2479c7","order_by":23,"name":"Shin'ichiro Michimasa","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN Nishina Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shin'ichiro","middleName":"","lastName":"Michimasa","suffix":""},{"id":544701078,"identity":"8b155268-12cc-4d5a-a0f6-77e808553a7d","order_by":24,"name":"Katsuhisa Nishio","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Katsuhisa","middleName":"","lastName":"Nishio","suffix":""},{"id":544701079,"identity":"1d26c113-e9d4-4302-92bc-36752d0c2deb","order_by":25,"name":"Vi Phong","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN Nishina Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vi","middleName":"","lastName":"Phong","suffix":""},{"id":544701080,"identity":"5a317387-4773-457d-a1c2-ee745d7bef38","order_by":26,"name":"Thomas Ruland","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Oak Ridge National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thomas","middleName":"","lastName":"Ruland","suffix":""},{"id":544701081,"identity":"d9f56be6-bf3f-4b83-802f-35e7e5be9e5a","order_by":27,"name":"Hiroyoshi Sakurai","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6215-4254","institution":"RIKEN","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hiroyoshi","middleName":"","lastName":"Sakurai","suffix":""},{"id":544701082,"identity":"ad3b6824-b6f5-444f-8a26-cf1f87e1d88c","order_by":28,"name":"Yohei Shimizu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN Nishina Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yohei","middleName":"","lastName":"Shimizu","suffix":""},{"id":544701083,"identity":"080bb2ee-fa59-4370-aacf-73f3a2990856","order_by":29,"name":"Aleksandra Skruch","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3638-1576","institution":"University of Warsaw","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aleksandra","middleName":"","lastName":"Skruch","suffix":""},{"id":544701084,"identity":"c592e626-870a-4ac7-98eb-5f54c25f514d","order_by":30,"name":"Hiroshi Suzuki","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hiroshi","middleName":"","lastName":"Suzuki","suffix":""},{"id":544701085,"identity":"deea2544-cedf-4ebb-ad9f-bc380b56758b","order_by":31,"name":"Hiroyuki Takeda","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hiroyuki","middleName":"","lastName":"Takeda","suffix":""},{"id":544701086,"identity":"405b16c6-8ef1-4dae-b802-680a519b9c2c","order_by":32,"name":"Y. Togano","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN Nishina Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Y.","middleName":"","lastName":"Togano","suffix":""},{"id":544701087,"identity":"eadef090-24f5-42e8-ab83-409e77f9bb60","order_by":33,"name":"Zhengyu Xu","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8626-1276","institution":"University of Tennessee, Knoxville","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhengyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Xu","suffix":""},{"id":544701088,"identity":"d5da9995-cd2e-464f-afe9-2a286b4e6847","order_by":34,"name":"Masahiro Yoshimoto","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RIKEN Nishina Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Masahiro","middleName":"","lastName":"Yoshimoto","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-10-30 17:32:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7991707/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7991707/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":96245815,"identity":"c4393dab-b3d7-459e-9a93-7de64109c0b0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-19 07:23:02","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2482919,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Superallowed104TemanuscriptSubmission.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7991707/v1_covered_94b7631a-bab0-400a-8c55-f2a294157b34.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Direct observation of the superallowed α decay of \u003csup\u003e104\u003c/sup\u003eTe","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7991707/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7991707/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Alpha particle radioactivity is one of the most striking evidence for the existence of cluster structures in atomic nuclei. During the decay process, a preexisting α particle tunnels through the potential barrier formed by the residual nucleus [1,2]. The degree of preformation of the α particle, a strongly bound system of two protons and two neutrons, is extracted from the data by dividing the α-decay probability by the barrier penetrability for a given particle energy. The preformation probability changes rapidly near nuclear shell closures, which is direct evidence that clustering is connected to nuclear structure [3]. Enhanced preformation was observed in the lightest α-particle emitters, spherical tellurium and xenon isotopes decaying to magic isotopes of tin. Here, we show the most extreme case of α-particle preformation from the measurement of the decay of tellurium-104. With a half-life of 7.2\u003csup\u003e+2.3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003csub\u003e-1.5\u003c/sub\u003e nanoseconds, tellurium-104 is the fastest ground state α-emitting nucleus known to date. The deduced preformation demonstrates that the enhancement is greater for tellurium-104 than for any other nucleus. One nuclear model that can explain our observation postulates that the α particle can exist only in the low nuclear matter density regions on the surface of the nucleus. The uniquely high preformation for tellurium-104 is attributed to its relation to doubly-magic tin-100, creating conditions conducive to form an α particle.","manuscriptTitle":"Direct observation of the superallowed α decay of 104Te","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-17 08:18:45","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7991707/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":false,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nature","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature](http://www.nature.com/nature/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"19d364e0-3840-4192-8745-4dff421657c0","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 17th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":57955257,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Nuclear physics/Experimental nuclear physics"},{"id":57955258,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Techniques and instrumentation"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-22T09:00:47+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-17 08:18:45","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7991707","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7991707","identity":"rs-7991707","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}