Decay of a three-quasiparticle isomer in the neutron-rich nucleus 183Ta

Excited states in neutron-rich tantalum isotopes have been studied with deep-inelastic reactions using 136Xe ions incident on a 186W target. New transitions observed below the τ=1.3 μs isomer in 183Ta have enabled the establishment of its energy and put limits on the spin and parity. On the basis of the reduced hindrances for the depopulating transitions, a 3-quasiparticle configuration of ν1/2−[510]11/2+[615] ⊗ π9/2−[514] is suggested.