Nuclear structure physics with large gamma-arrays

The study of nuclear structure at the limits of angular momentum and of neutrons to protons ratio requires detector systems of unprecedented sensitivity in order to detect the very weak signals characteristic of such regimes. Large γ-ray spectrometers have been therefore built to address the physics of high-spin states and of exotic nuclei lying far from stability; the present talk discusses some of the recent highlights obtained in these research fields by exploiting the big germanium arrays