Excited states in neutron-deficient 198Bi

The high-spin states of 198Bi have been studied in the reaction 187Re(16O, 5n)198Bi at 16O energies from 85 to 105 MeV. In-beam measurements of γ-ray excitation functions, γ-γ-t coincidences and γ-ray angular distributions were carried out with 6 BGO(AC)HPGe detectors and one intrinsic Ge planar detector. A level scheme for 198Bi with 26 γ rays was established for the first time, including a 15+ isomer with a measured half-life of 8.0 +- 3.6 ns. The level structure of 198Bi was qualitatively interpreted by using semi-empirical methods