Low-lying isovector 2+ valence-shell excitations of $^{212}$Po

We present the results from an experiment dedicated to search for quadrupole-collective isovector valence-shell excitations, states with so-called mixed proton-neutron symmetry (MSS), of 212Po. This nucleus was studied in an α-transfer reaction. The lifetimes of two short-lived excited states, candidates for the one-phonon MSS, were determined by utilizing the Doppler shift attenuation method. The experimental results are in qualitative agreement with a simple single-j shell model calculation, which, together with the observed lack of quadrupole collectivity, indicates that the isovector nature of low-lying states is a property of the leading single-particle valence shell configuration.