Half-lives of ground and isomeric states in 97 Cd and the astrophysical origin of 96 Ru

First experimental evidence for a high-spin isomer (25/2+) in 97Cd, a waiting point in the astrophysical rapid proton capture process, is presented. The data were obtained in β-decay studies at NSCL using the new RF Fragment Separator system and detecting β-delayed protons and β-delayed γ rays. Decays from ground and isomeric states were disentangled, and proton emission branches were determined for the first time. We find half-lives of 1.10(8) s and 3.8(2) s, and β-delayed proton emission branches of 12(2)% and 25(4)% were deduced for the ground and isomeric states, respectively. With these results, the nuclear data needed to determine an rp-process contribution to the unknown origin of solar 96Ru are in place. When the new data are included in astrophysical rp-process calculations, one finds that an rp-process origin of 96Ru is unlikely.