Study of near-stability nuclei populated as fission fragments in heavy-ion fusion reactions

Examples are presented to illustrate the power of prompt gamma-ray spectroscopy of fission fragments from compound nuclei with A similar to 200 formed in fusion-evaporation reactions in experiments using the Gammasphere Ge-detector array. Complementary methods, such as Coulomb excitation and deep-inelastic processes, are also discussed. In other cases (n, xn gamma) reactions on stable isotopes have been used to establish neutron excitation functions for gamma-rays using a pulsed "white"-neutron source, coupled to a high-energy-resolution germanium-detector array. The excitation functions can unambiguously assign gamma-rays to a specific reaction product. Results from all these methods bridge the gaps in the systematics of high-spin states between the neutron-deficient and neutron-rich nuclei. Results near shell closures should motivate new shell model calculations.