Terry, J. R.Werner, V.Berant, Z.Casperson, R. J.Casten, R. F.Heinz, A.Henning, G.Lüttke, R.McCutchan, E. A.Qian, J.Shoraka, B.Williams, E.Winkler, R.2026-07-032026-07-030094-243XORCID:/0000-0002-7895-458X/work/219172547https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733812407The lifetime of the 120Te first-excited 2+ state is measured using the recoil distance Doppler shift (RDDS) method after population by inverse-kinematics Coulomb excitation. The resulting mean lifetime of 10.4(2) ps provides a factor of ten improvement in precision relative to the previously accepted value. A number of necessary corrections are discussed stemming from relativistic effects due to large recoil velocities.5enCoulomb excitationLifetimeRecoil distance doppler shift200910.1063/1.308704064849094791