Structure of neutron-rich nuclei around the N = 126 closed shell; the yrast structure of 205Au126 up to spin-parity IΠ = (19/2+)

Heavy neutron-rich nuclei have been populated through the relativistic fragmentation of a Pb-208(82) beam at E/A = 1 GeV on a 2.5 g/cm(2) thick Be target. The synthesised nuclei were selected and identified in-flight using the fragment separator at GSI. Approximately 300 ns after production, the selected nuclei were implanted in an similar to 8 mm thick perspex stopper, positioned at the centre of the RISING gamma-ray detector spectrometer array. A previously unreported isomer with a half-life T-1/2 = 163(5) ns has been observed in the N = 126 closed-shell nucleus Au-205(79). Through gamma-ray singles and gamma-gamma coincidence analysis a level scheme was established. The comparison with a shell model calculation tentatively identifies the spin-parity of the excited states, including the isomer itself, which is found to be I-pi = (19/2(+)).