Abstract

The depopulation of the quasistable isomer in Ta-180 with J(pi) = 9(-) at E-x = 75 keV by resonant photoabsorption was investigated with intense bremsstrahlung. The results indicate a dramatic acceleration of the isomer decay to the short-lived J(pi) = 1(+) ground state under stellar s-process conditions. The consequences for a possible nucleosynthesis of nature's rarest isotope Ta-180. within the s process are discussed.

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