BETA-DELAYED PROTON EMISSION: A NEW SERIES OF PRECURSORS AND THE MEASUREMENT OF 10** minus **1**6 s NUCLEAR LIFETIMES.
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The study of beta-delayed proton emission yields information both on the beta-decay of the precursor nucleus and on the properties of excited states in the emitter. Among light elements, where a few strong transitions usually dominate, the series of even-Z, T//z equals minus 3/2 nuclei provided an early insight into T equals 3/2 analogue states and the superallowed transitions that populate them. Results have been obtained on a new series of even-Z precursors with T//z equals plus 1/2. Like all known heavy precursors, the nuclei so far identified - **6**5Ge, **6**9Se, **7**3Kr, **7**7Sr, **8**1Zr and provisionally **8**5Mo - exhibit broad proton continua. However, the availability of such a series of nuclei makes it possible to extract a systematic picture of the beta-decay strength function as well as level densities, widths and decay energies from the observed spectra. By the addition of a new experimental technique, it has also been possible to determine the absolute values of the widths through direct measurement of the average lifetime of states populated in the emitter.