Identification of the first excited state in theN=ZnucleusGe323264

Gamma-rays from ${}_{}{}^{64}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ge}$ have been investigated using the reaction ${}_{}{}^{12}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{C}$ ${(}^{54}$Fe,2nγ${)}^{64}$Ge at 150 MeV beam energy. The first excited state was found to be 901.6±0.5 keV. The observation of pure neutron evaporation from a very neutron deficient compound nucleus is potentially important for the prospect of observing heavier exotic self-conjugate systems.