β decay of ^49,50Ar

Information on gross β-decay properties of neutron-rich noble gas isotopes ^49,50Ar was obtained at the PSB-ISOLDE facility at CERN using isobaric selectivity achieved by the combination of a plasma ion source with a cooled transfer line and subsequent mass separation. A doubly charged beam was used in the case of ⁴⁹Ar to suppress the corresponding multicharged background from heavier noble gas fission products. The comparison of the obtained data with results of quasiparticle random-phase approximation calculations indicates that the N=28 shell is not disturbed significantly for neutron-rich Ar nuclei. The obtained results are useful for better understanding of the origin of the ⁴⁸Ca/⁴⁶Ca isotopic anomaly discovered in inclusions from the Allende meteorite.