Study of the Kπ = 8- isomeric decay in the N = 74 isotone 128Xe

For prolate deformations around e ≈0.22 at neutron number N = 74 the neutron orbits 7/2[404] and 9/2[514] are close to the Fermi surface and may combine to give K = 8 isomeric state. This K = 8 isomeric state decays to the 8 member of the yrast band in Dy, Gd, Sm, Nd, Ce and Ba. There is no evidence for such a transition in Xe and this will be explained in terms of the nuclear structure of the region.