NEW OBLATE BAND IN HG-196 WITH QUENCHED M1 STRENGTH

High-spin states in the nucleUs Hg-196 were populated in the reaction (Os(Be,5n))-Os-192 at a beam energy of 65 MeV. A regular rotational-like DELTAI = 1 band has been observed up to an excitation energy of E* almost-equal-to 8.7 MeV and spin I almost-equal-to 30hBAR. This is the second observation of a band of this character in a mercury isotope. The experimental results are compared with mean field calculations and semiclassical estimates based on the Donau-Frauendorf formalism. The mercury bands show significantly lower B(M1)/B(E2) branching ratios as compared with similar bands in light lead nuclei. This difference may be more readily explained by a difference in single-particle structure rather than by large differences in deformation between the lead and mercury configurations.