Production, chemical and isotopic separation of the178m2Hf high-spin isomer

The 178m2Hf with its long-lived (T1/2=31 y), high-spin Iπ = 16+, isomeric state, is a challenge for new and exotic nuclear physics studies. The 178m2Hf isomer has been produced in microweight quantities using the 176Yb(α,2n) nuclear reaction, by irradiation with a high-intensity beam using the U-200 cyclotron in Dubna. Radiochemistry and mass separation methods have been developed, with the aim to separate and purify the produced Hf material. Thin targets of isomeric hafnium-178 on carbon backings have been prepared and used in experiments with neutron, proton and deuteron beams.