Shell structure at N=28 near the dripline: spectroscopy of ⁴²Si, ⁴³P and ⁴⁴S

Measurements of the N=28 isotones 42Si, 43P and 44S using one- and two-proton knockout reactions from the radioactive beam nuclei 44S and 46Ar are reported. The knockout reaction cross sections for populating 42Si and 43P and a 184 keV gamma-ray observed in 43P establish that the d_{3/2} and s_{1/2} proton orbits are nearly degenerate in these nuclei and that there is a substantial Z=14 subshell closure separating these two orbits from the d_{5/2} orbit. The increase in the inclusive two-proton knockout cross section from 42Si to 44S demonstrates the importance of the availability of valence protons for determining the cross section. New calculations of the two-proton knockout reactions that include diffractive effects are presented. In addition, it is proposed that a search for the d_{5/2} proton strength in 43P via a higher statistics one-proton knockout experiment could help determine the size of the Z=14 closure.