First observation of excited states of Hg-173

Abstract

The neutron-deficient nucleus Hg-173 has been studied following fusion-evaporation reactions. The observation of the decay of excited states via gamma radiation are reported for the first time and a tentative level scheme is proposed. The proposed level scheme is discussed within the context of the systematics of neighboring neutron-deficient Hg nuclei. In addition to the gamma-ray spectroscopy, the alpha decay of this nucleus has been measured yielding superior precision to earlier measurements.