First Evidence of Axial Shape Asymmetry and Configuration Coexistence in 74Zn : Suggestion for a Northern Extension of the N = 40 Island of Inversion

The excited states of N=44 74Zn were investigated via γ-ray spectroscopy following 74Cu β decay. By exploiting γ−γ angular correlation analysis, the 2+2, 3+1, 0+2, and 2+3 states in 74Zn were firmly established. The γ-ray branching and E2/M1 mixing ratios for transitions deexciting the 2+2, 3+1, and 2+3 states were measured, allowing for the extraction of relative B(E2) values. In particular, the 2+3→0+2 and 2+3→4+1 transitions were observed for the first time. The results show excellent agreement with new microscopic large-scale shell-model calculations, and are discussed in terms of underlying shapes, as well as the role of neutron excitations across the N=40 gap. Enhanced axial shape asymmetry (triaxiality) is suggested to characterize 74Zn in its ground state. Furthermore, an excited K=0 band with a significantly larger softness in its shape is identified. A shore of the N=40 “island of inversion” appears to manifest above Z=26, previously thought as its northern limit in the chart of the nuclides.