Low-lying positive parity bands in 162Yb

The structure of the low-lying positive parity bands in Yb-162 has been studied at iThemba LABS, using the Sm-150(O-16,4n)Yb-162 fusion-evaporation reaction. A band built on the first excited state has been identified for the first time. In addition, we report new rotational levels that form the band structures of both the odd and even spin components of the -vibrational band. The first excited band and the even spin members of the -vibrational band exhibit a Landau-Zenner crossing. This crossing demonstrates that the significant signature splitting between the odd and even spin members of the band is contributed to by band mixing.