States in ¹⁹⁷Au from the (n,n^'γ) reaction

The level structure of ¹⁹⁷Au has been studied using the (n,n^'γ) reaction. A germanium detector array (GEANIE) for γ-ray detection and the “white” neutron source at LANSCE/WNR were used for the measurement. The energy of the incident neutrons was determined using the time-of-flight technique. Partial γ-ray cross sections were measured for a total of 90 transitions of ¹⁹⁷Au. A total of 52 new γ rays were assigned to ¹⁹⁷Au and placed on the level scheme based on the partial γ-ray excitation functions and the γ-γ coincidence data. The level scheme of ¹⁹⁷Au is now more complete up to ~2 MeV excitation energy. The first excited states of the decoupled band built on the proton-hole h_11/2 configuration were established.