Determining the Excitation Energy, Spin, and Parity of Levels in the Superdeformed Bands of 152Dy

The excitation energy, spin and parity of the yrast superdeformed (SD) band in 152Dy have been established. The excitation energy of the lowest observed level in this band is found to be 10,644 keV with an assigned spin and parity of 24+. In addition, nine transitions of dipole character have been identified, which connect the excited superdeformed band 6 in 152Dy to the yrast SD band. The excitation energy of the lowest level in the excited SD band 6 is 14,239 keV. The spin and parity of this state has been determined to be either 29− or 31−. The measured properties of SD band 6 are consistent with an interpretation in terms of a rotational band built on an octupole vibration. A comparison with an RPA calculation by Nakatsukasa et al. suggests that the spin of the lowest SD band 6 level is 31−.