High-spin states in the proton-unbound nucleus Re 161

Excited states in Re-161 were populated using the Cd-106(Ni-58, p2n) reaction at a beam energy of 270 MeV, resulting in the first observation of gamma rays emitted from this nucleus. The reaction products were separated from scattered beam and fission fragments by the gas-filled recoil separator RITU, and were implanted in the double-sided silicon strip detectors of the GREAT spectrometer. Prompt gamma rays were detected by the JUROGAM Ge detector array and were assigned to Re-161 based on alpha- and proton-decay tagging of the implanted reaction products. The near-yrast high-spin level structure, which was delineated to spins around 39/2, is discussed in the context of the total Routhian surface formalism. The level scheme is interpreted in terms of the alignment of h(9/2)/f(7/2) neutrons at lower spins, followed by excitations involving the pi h(11/2) subshell at higher spins.