First observation of scissors mode states in an odd-mass nucleus

Nuclear resonance fluorescence experiments are reported to search for enhanced M1 scissors mode states in the deformed odd-mass nucleus exp 163 Dy. A concentration of dipole strengths near 3 MeV excitation energy is found, which fits nicely into the systematics observed for M1 excitations in the neighboring even-even dysprosium isotopes. The observed strength distribution and the decay branching ratios are discussed in the context of the interacting boson-fermion model.