Coulomb Excitation of the N = 50 nucleus 80Zn

Neutron rich Zinc isotopes, including the N = 50 nucleus 80Zn, were produced and post‐accelerated at the Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facility REX‐ISOLDE (CERN). Low‐energy Coulomb excitation was induced on these isotopes after post‐acceleration, yielding B(E2) strengths to the first excited 2+ states. For the first time, an excited state in 80Zn was observed and the 21+ state in 78Zn was established. The measured B(E2,21+→01+) values are compared to two sets of large scale shell model calculations. Both calculations reproduce the observed B(E2) systematics for the full Zinc isotopic chain. The results for N = 50 isotones indicate a good N = 50 shell closure and a strong Z = 28 proton core polarization. The new results serve as benchmarks to establish theoretical models, predicting the nuclear properties of the doubly magic nucleus 78Ni.