The decay of a proton rich nucleus A populates excited states

of a daughter nucleus B by + emission or electron capture

(EC). Those excited states that lie below the separation energy
for protons (Sp) decay by emission towards the groundstate
of daughter B. For the higher excited states a competitive
decay channel of proton emission to the granddaughter C
exists, called -delayed proton emission.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Proton emission (also known as proton
radioactivity) is a type of radioactive decay in which
a proton is ejected from a nucleus. Proton emission
can occur from high-lying excited states in a nucleus
following a beta decay, in which case the process is
known as beta-delayed proton emission, or can
occur from the ground state (or a low-lying isomer)
of very proton-rich nuclei, in which case the process
is very similar to alpha decay. For a proton to escape
a nucleus, the proton separation energy must be
negative - the proton is therefore unbound, and
tunnels out of the nucleus in a finite time. Proton
emission is not seen in naturally occurring isotopes;
proton emitters can be produced via nuclear
reactions, usually utilising some kind of particle
accelerator.
Although prompt (i.e. not beta-delayed) proton
emission was observed from an isomer in cobalt-53
as early as 1969, no other proton-emitting states
were found until 1981, when the proton radioactive ground states of lutetium-151 and thulium-147 were
observed at experiments at the GSI in West Germany.
[citation needed]
Research in the field flourished after this
breakthrough, and to date more than 25 isotopes have been found to exhibit proton emission. The study of
proton emission has aided the understanding of nuclear deformation, masses and structure, and it is a
wonderfully pure example of quantum tunneling.
In 2002, the simultaneous emission of two protons was observed from the nucleus iron-45 in experiments at GSI
and GANIL (Grand Acclrateur National d'Ions Lourds, at Caen). In 2005 it was experimentally determined
(at the same facility) that zinc-54 can also undergo double proton decay.
Proton drip line
Diproton (a particle possibly involved in double proton decay)
Free neutron
Neutron emission
Nuclear Structure and Decay Data - IAEA (http://www-nds.iaea.org/queryensdf) with query on
Proton Separation Energy
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Categories: Nuclear physics Radioactivity
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