Ge74(t, p)Ge76reaction

The reaction ${}_{}{}^{74}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ge}(t, p){}_{}{}^{76}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ge}$ has been investigated with a 15 MeV triton beam. Twenty-six energy levels of ${}_{}{}^{76}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ge}$ were identified up to about 4 MeV excitation, five of which were unreported previously. Angular distributions were measured and compared with distorted-wave Born-approximation calculations. The first and second excited 0+ states in ${}_{}{}^{76}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ge}$ have been located at 1.911 and 2.901 MeV. Thirteen additional new spin and parity assignments have been made. The systematic structure of the low-lying 0+ states observed in the $\mathrm{Ge}(t, p)$ reactions on several isotopes support the idea of a shape transition previously proposed for these nuclei but for $N\ge 46$ there is a rapid change toward a spherical shape.