Quantum tunneling of the excited rotational bands in the superdeformed nucleus 143Eu

The properties of the thermally excited rotational motion up to the region of rotational damping are studied experimentally in the superdeformed nucleus 143Eu. The effective lifetime of the excited discrete rotational bands forming ridge structures in γ–γ matrices is measured at the EUROBALL array using the DSAM technique, giving a quadrupole moment Qt≈10 e b, consistent with the deformation of the superdeformed yrast band. In addition, the effective number of excited superdeformed bands is extracted by a statistical analysis of the ridge structure, for transition energies down to the region where the effect of the decay-out into the normal deformed well shows up. The experimental data are compared with microscopic cranked shell model calculations including a residual interaction of surface delta type. Satisfactory agreement between data and theory is obtained when the quantum tunneling of the excited superdeformed states is included in the model.