Fast-timing measurements in the ground-state band of Pd114

Using a hybrid Gammasphere array coupled to 25 LaBr3(Ce) detectors, the lifetimes of the first three levels of the yrast band in ¹¹⁴Pd populated via ²⁵²Cf decay, have been measured. The measured lifetimes are τ₂+=103(10)ps, τ₄+=22(13)ps, and τ₆+≤10ps for the 2⁺₁, 4⁺₁, and 6⁺₁ levels, respectively. Palladium-114 was predicted to be the most deformed isotope of its isotopic chain, and spectroscopic studies have suggested it might also be a candidate nucleus for low-spin stable triaxiality. From the lifetimes measured in this work, reduced transition probabilities B(E2;J→J−2) are calculated and compared with interacting boson model, projected shell model, and collective model calculations from the literature. The experimental ratio RB(E₂)=B(E2;4⁺₁→2⁺₁)/B(E2;2⁺₁→0⁺₁)=0.80(42) is measured for the first time in ¹¹⁴Pd and compared with the known values RB(E₂) in the palladium isotopic chain: the systematics suggest that, for N=68, a transition from γ-unstable to a more rigid γ-deformed nuclear shape occurs.