Protons from the Deuteron Bombardment of Separated Neon Isotopes

With neon gas enriched either to 93 percent Ne²² or to 99 percent Ne²⁰ we confirm the observations with less well-concentrated isotopes by Elder, Motz, and Davison on the Ne²⁰(d,p)Ne²¹ and Ne²²(d,p)Ne²³ reactions. Aided by the enrichment factor of 3 for Ne²¹ in the "heavy" neon, we find a long-range proton group from Ne²¹(d,p)Ne²² with a Q of 6.79±{}0.10 Mev for the reaction. Consideration of these and other reactions involving neon isotopes show that the mass of Ne²¹ is 21.00062±{}0.00010 and that this new proton group indicates an excited state at 1.37 Mev in the Ne²² nucleus.