High-spin structures and alignment properties in 126Ce -: art. no. 054307

Excited states in Ce-126 have been observed with the GAMMASPHERE gamma -ray detector array, used in conjunction with the MICROBALL charged-particle detector. The reaction Zn-64(Zn-64, xpn alpha) (beam energy 260 MeV) was used to populate a wide range of nuclei in the neutron-deficient region with A approximate to 120. Ce-126 was populated via the 2p evaporation channel. The three previously observed bands have been extended to higher spins and some other structures have been identified. The yrast band shows evidence of a delayed neutron alignment occurring at a rotational frequency omega approximate to0.5 MeV/(h) over bar as observed in the neighboring odd-A nucleus Pr-127. One of the two excited bands shows evidence for a similar crossing at a slightly lower frequency and also exhibits a sudden gain in alignment at omega =0.57 MeV/(h) over bar. The third band may involve the coupling of a gamma -vibrational state. All three rotational bands are discussed in terms of standard and extended cranked shell model calculations.