High-spin isomers in 212Rn in the region of triple neutron core-excitations

The level scheme of 212Rn has been extended to spins of ∼38ℏ and excitation energies of about 13 MeV using the 204Hg(13C, 5n)212Rn reaction and γ-ray spectroscopy. Time correlated techniques have been used to obtain sensitivity to weak transitions and channel selectivity. The excitation energy of the 22+ core-excited isomer has been established at 6174 keV. Two isomers with τ=25(2) ns and τ=12(2) ns are identified at 12211 and 12548 keV, respectively. These are the highest-spin nuclear isomers now known, and are attributed to configurations involving triple neutron core-excitations coupled to the aligned valence protons. Semi-empirical shell-model calculations can account for most states observed, but with significant energy discrepancies for some configurations.