The Spectroscopy of {sup 183}Tl: An Extreme Case of Prolate-Oblate Shape-Competition

The yrast sequence in {sup 183}Tl has been studied for the first time in recoil-mass and decay tagged gamma-ray spectroscopic measurements. A rotational-like cascade of seven transitions is observed down to the bandhead with spin 13/2+. In contrast to adjacent nuclei, links from the yrast band to a lower lying weakly deformed (oblate) structure are not observed. It appears that the prolate energy minimum in {sup 183}Tl drops significantly compared to {sup 185}Tl and minimizes below the neutron i13/2 midshell (n <= 102). Possibilities for the decay out of the band in {sup 183}Tl are discussed.