| Our group has constructed a Wu-type superconducting beta spectrometer. This spectrometer will be used to investigate the properties of nuclear beta decay, starting with a measurement of the 14O ground state spectrum. To prepare for the 14O measurement, we have calibrated the spectrometer through careful examination of conversion electron spectra from 212Pb and 207Bi sources, and with measurements of the 42K beta decay spectrum.;Additionally, we have treated the ground state beta decay of 66Ga as the test case for the future 14O experiment. Experiments to find the 66Ga half-life, decay energy, and spectrum shape resulted in the highest precision measurements of those properties to date. In making these measurements, we have found that a high-precision measurement of the 14O shape factor is possible with our spectrometer. |
