Low-energy photon scattering off 142,146,148,150Nd: An investigation in the mass region of a nuclear shape transition☆

Abstract Nuclear resonance fluorescence experiments have been performed on the nuclei 142,146,148,150 Nd, which are located in the mass region of a nuclear shape transition from a spherical ( 142 Nd) to a well-deformed shape ( 150 Nd). Bremsstrahlung of 4.1 MeV endpoint energy served as the photon source. The scattered photons were detected by high-resolution Ge-spectrometers. Precise excitation energies, decay branching ratios, and ground-state decay widths of numerous new spin-1 states have been extracted.