3-QUASIPARTICLE ISOMERS AND ROTATIONAL BANDS IN HF-171 AND HF-173

Low-lying three-quasiparticle isomers have been identified in 171Hf and 173Hf. Their energies, spins and parities 23/2- and 19/2 + and decay models allow their characterisation as the coupling of a 7/2+ (633) neutron to the known 8- and 6+ two-quasiproton isomers of the core nuclei. The rotational band based on the 23/2+ isomer in 171Hf has a moment of inertia similar to that of the 7/2+ (633) one-quasineutron band, indicating rotation alignment in the three-quasiparticle band.