Structural Evolution in the Neutron-Rich Nuclei {sup 106}Zr and {sup 108}Zr

The low-lying states in {sup 106}Zr and {sup 108}Zr have been investigated by means of {beta}-{gamma} and isomer spectroscopy at the radioactive isotope beam factory (RIBF), respectively. A new isomer with a half-life of 620{+-}150 ns has been identified in {sup 108}Zr. For the sequence of even-even Zr isotopes, the excitation energies of the first 2{sup +} states reach a minimum at N=64 and gradually increase as the neutron number increases up to N=68, suggesting a deformed subshell closure at N=64. The deformed ground state of {sup 108}Zr indicates that a spherical subshell gap predicted at N=70 is not large enough to change the ground state of {sup 108}Zr to the spherical shape. The possibility of a tetrahedral shape isomer in {sup 108}Zr is also discussed.