Rotational bands in neutron-rich 160,161,162Ho

High-spin states in Ho-160,Ho-161,Ho-162 have been populated in the reactions Gd-158,Gd-160(Li-7, xn) at 56 MeV. In all three isotopes the known rotational bands have been extended to significantly higher spin. In Ho-160, the band crossing in the pi7/2(-)[523] circle times v11/2(-)[505] band has been observed for the first time. The sequences built on the proton 7/2(-)[523], 7/2 (+) [404], 1/2 (+) [411] and 1/2(-)[541] states in Ho-161 have been extended up to spin 51/2(-), 35/2 (+) , 51/2 (+) and 41/2(-), respectively, leading to the first observation of upbends in all four cases. In addition, a new band most probably belonging to this nucleus has been identified. In the most neutron-rich isotope Ho-162, the only known rotational band, which is built on the pi7/2(-)[523] circle times v5/2(+) [642] configuration, has been extended up to the 28(-) state. The properties of all observed bands are discussed and compared to the neighbouring isotopes.