A new differential plunger to measure lifetimes of unbound states in tagged exotic nuclei

A new differential plunger is being designed and built at the University of Manchester to measure lifetimes of unbound states in exotic nuclei approaching the proton drip‐line. The device is designed to work in both vacuum and gas environments and will primarily be used in conjunction with the gas filled separator RITU at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. This will enable the accurate measurement of excited state lifetimes identified via isomer and charged‐particle tagging. The plunger will be used to address many key facets of nuclear structure physics with particular emphasis on the effect of deformation on proton emission rates.