Triaxial superdeformed bands in 164Lu and enhanced El decay-out strength

In a search for exotic structures in odd-odd Lu, performed as one of the first Euroball experiments eight new, presumably triaxial, superdeformed bands were found. For the first time, evidence is presented for superdeformation in an odd-odd Lu isotope for which theory predicts large triaxiality. The data are compared to expectations from calculations with the code "Ultimate Cranker". Two of the bands are connected to normal-deformed structures and the El strength of the decay-out appears to be enhanced over single particle expectations, possibly due to octupole correlations. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.