α decay of Au 176

The isotope $^{176}\mathrm{Au}$ has been studied in the complete fusion reaction $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}+^{141}\mathrm{Pr} \phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow} {}^{176}\mathrm{Au}+5n$ at the velocity filter SHIP (GSI, Darmstadt). The complex fine-structure $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ decay of two isomeric states in $^{176}\mathrm{Au}$ feeding several previously unknown excited states in the daughter nucleus $^{172}\mathrm{Ir}$ is presented. An $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-decay branching ratio of ${b}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}=9.5(11)%$ was deduced for the high-spin isomer in $^{172}\mathrm{Ir}$.