First identification of excited states in the nucleus 93 Pd

The first experimental information about excited states in the N = Z + 1 nucleus 93 Pd is presented. The experiment was performed using a 205 MeV 58 Ni beam from the Vivitron accelerator at IReS, Strasbourg, impinging on a bismuth-backed 40 Ca target. Gamma-rays, neutrons and charged particles emitted in the reactions were detected using the Ge detector array Euroball, the Neutron Wall liquid-scintillator array and the Euclides Si charged-particle detector system. The experimental level scheme is compared with the results of new shell model calculations which predict a coupling scheme with aligned neutron-proton pairs to greatly influence the level structure of nuclei at low excitation energies.