High-precision half-life measurement of 123Xe and 125Xe for fuel areal density diagnosing in inertial confinement fusion

The half-lives of 123Xe and 125Xe are important to diagnose deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel areal density in inertial confinement fusion (ICF). In this work, those two half-lives have been measured with HPGe γ-ray spectrometers using the reference source method. Data have been recorded over seven half-lives with three independent measurements for 123Xe and two for 125Xe. New values of 123Xe (2.040 ± 0.009) h and 125Xe (17.048 ± 0.032) h have been determined with significant reduction of the uncertainty compared to the currently recommended value of (2.08 ± 0.02) and (16.9 ± 0.2) h, respectively. •Measured half-lives of 123Xe and 125Xe with HPGe using the reference source method.•The determined half-life of 123Xe is (2.040 ± 0.009) h, 125 Xe is (17.048 ± 0.032) h.•Significant reduction in uncertainty compared to the literature values.