β-delayed fission and α decay of 178Tl

A detailed nuclear-decay spectroscopy study of the neutron-deficient isotope 178Tl has been performed using the highly selective Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source and ISOLDE mass separator (CERN), which allowed a unique isobarically pure beam of 178Tl to be produced. The first identification of the β-delayed fission of this isotope was made and its probability PβDF(178Tl)=0.15(6)% was determined. An asymmetric fission fragment mass distribution of the daughter isotope 178Hg (populated by the β decay of 178Tl) was deduced based on the measured fission fragment energies. The fine-structure α-decay pattern of 178Tl allowed the low-energy states in the daughter nucleus 174Au to be studied.