Decay of 168Ho to Levels of 168Er

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Abstract
Decay of 168 Ho has been studied with Ge(Li), NaI(Tl), and plastic detectors in singles and in coincidence. Sources were prepared by the 168 Er( n , p ) 168 Ho reaction with 14.8 MeV neutrons. Thirty-three gamma-rays were observed and twenty eight of them were assigned in a proposed decay scheme, including three new levels at 2192.7, 2254.4 and 2425.7 keV. The half-life was measured to be 2.98±0.09 min. The observation of a 1.92±0.10 MeV beta group in coincidence with a 821 keV gamma transition establishes the total beta-decay energy as 27.4±0.10 MeV. There is good agreement between beta-decay branching ratios to the gamma band and predictions from the adiabatic symmetric-rotor model. A value of 0.0313±0.0025 for the band-mixing parameter z 2 was calculated from the E2 branching ratios for transitions between the gamma band and the ground-state band in 168 Er.