The (d, 2He) reaction on 96Mo and the double-β decay matrix elements for 96Zr

The 96Mo(d,2He)96Nb charge-exchange reaction was investigated at an incident energy of Ed=183.5 MeV. An excitation-energy resolution of 110 keV was achieved. The experiment was performed at KVI, Groningen, using the magnetic spectrometer BBS at three angular positions: 0°,2.5°, and 6°. We found that below 6 MeV almost the entire Gamow-Teller (GT+) strength is concentrated in a single state at 0.69 MeV excitation energy. As Mo96 is the daughter of the ?? decay nucleus Zr96, the present result provides information about the nuclear matrix elements active in the 2??? decay of Zr96.