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The decay of odd-odd $^{150}$Pm has been studied by populating the nucleus with the $^{150}$Nd(p,n)$^{150}$Pm reaction at E$_{beam}$ = 8.0 MeV using 97$\%$ enriched $^{150}$Nd target. The presence of an isomeric state with $\beta$ decay half life of 2.2(1) h could be identified in $^{150}$Pm by following the half lives of the observed $\gamma$ transitions. The decay of the isomer to the excited levels of $^{150}$Sm has been confirmed by observing the $\gamma - \gamma$ coincidence with the VENUS array of six Compton suppressed Clover HPGe detectors. The $\beta$ decay end-point energies corresponding to the decay from the $^{150g}$Pm and $^{150m}$Pm have been measured using a $\beta-\gamma$ coincidence setup of two thin window Planar HPGe detectors and four Clover HPGe detectors of the VENUS array. The systematics of the similar isomeric states in neighboring nuclei has been studied to understand the underlying structure of these states. Shell model calculation has been performed by using OXBASH code which indicates the presence of a 5$^-$ isomeric state at very low excitation in the nucleus. The calculation also suggests hindered electromagnetic decay of this isomer and supports the possibility of its $\beta$ decay to the excited levels of $^{150}$Sm., Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures

Excitation functions were measured by stacked-foil activation technique for the $^{150}$Nd(p, xpyn) reaction using 97.65$%$ enriched $^{150}$Nd target. Measurement up to $\sim$50$%$ above barrier and down to 18$%$ below the barrier was performed using proton beam energy (E$_p$) of 7 - 15 MeV from VECC Cyclotron. The yield of suitable $\gamma$ rays emitted following the decay of relevant evaporation residues was determined using a 50$%$ High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector.(p,n) cross section was found to follow the expected trend with a maximum value of 63.7(4.9)mb at E$_p$ $\sim$ 8.6 MeV. (p,2n) cross section gradually increased with E$_p$ and had maximum contribution to the total reaction cross section after E$_p$ $\sim$ 9.0 MeV. (p, p$^{\prime}$n) reaction channel also showed a reasonable yield with a threshold of E$_p$ $\sim$ 12.0 MeV. The experimental data were corroborated with statistical model calculations using different codes, viz., CASCADE, ALICE/91 and EMPIRE3.1. All the calculations using a suitable set of global parameters could reproduce the excitation function fairly well in the present energy range.

30 keV 111mCd and 50 keV 199mHg beams from ISOLDE were used to implant on preformed target of C60 with the thickness of 1 mg/cm2. Endofullerene compounds, viz.,111mCd@C60 and 199mHg@C60 formed during implantation were separated by filtration through micropore filter paper followed by solvent extraction. Dried samples of the endofullerene compounds were counted for the coincidence for the 151-245 keV cascade of 111mCd and 374-158 keV cascade for 199mHg for the TDPAC measurement on a six LaBr3 detector system coupled with digital electronics. The results indicate a single site occupied by the Cd atom in the fullerene cage with fast relaxation component which means that the Cd atom does move inside the cage at room temperature. The quadrupole interaction frequency and asymmetry parameter of the Cd atom occupying the site in C60 are WQ=8.14(42) Mrad/s and eta= 0.42(9) respectively with a site population of 28%. Fast relaxation constant is 0.003 ns-1 with a site contribution of 72%. On the other hand, Hg atom has two static sites of quadrupole frequencies, WQ1=281.60(16.9) Mrad/s and WQ2=202.30(22.7) Mrad/s. Respective asymmetry parameters are eta1=0.1(1) and eta2=0.2(1). The static components have a contribution of 40% with the rest 60% coming from the fast relaxing component., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures one table

Electron Capture (EC) decay of $^{146}$Gd($\it{t_{1/2}}$ = 48d) to the low lying states of $^{146}$Eu has been studied using high-resolution $\gamma$ ray spectroscopy. The $^{146}$Gd activity was produced by ($\alpha$, 2n) reaction at E$_{\alpha}$ = 32 MeV using 93.8% enriched $^{144}$Sm target. The level structure has been considerably modified from the measurement of $\gamma$ ray singles, $\gamma\gamma$ coincidences and decay half lives. Lifetime measurement has been performed for the 3$^-$ (114.06 keV) and 2$^-$ (229.4 keV) levels of $^{146}$Eu using Mirror Symmetric Centroid Difference (MSCD) method with LaBr$_3$ (Ce) detectors. The lifetimes for these two states have been found to be 5.38 $\pm$ 2.36 ps and 8.38 $\pm$ 2.19 ps respectively. Shell model calculation has been performed using OXBASH code in order to interpret the results., Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures