High-spin states with seniority v = 4 , 5, and 6 in 119 – 126 Sn

The ${}^{119--126}$Sn nuclei have been produced as fission fragments in two reactions induced by heavy ions: ${}^{12}\\text{C}+{}^{238}\\text{U}$ at a bombarding energy of 90 MeV and ${}^{18}\\text{O}+{}^{208}\\text{Pb}$ at 85 MeV. Their level schemes have been built from $\\ensuremath{\\gamma}$ rays detected using the Euroball array. High-spin states located above the long-lived isomeric states of the even- and odd-$A$ ${}^{120--126}$Sn nuclei have been identified. Moreover, isomeric states lying around 4.5 MeV have been established in ${}^{120,122,124,126}$Sn from the delayed coincidences between the fission fragment detector SAPhIR and the Euroball array. The states located above 3 MeV excitation energy are ascribed to several broken pairs of neutrons occupying the $\\ensuremath{\\nu}{h}_{11/2}$ orbit. The maximum value of angular momentum available in such a high-$j$ shell, i.e., for midoccupation and the breaking of the three neutron pairs, has been identified. This process is observed for the first time in spherical nuclei.