Identification of deformed intruder states in semi-magic Ni-70

The structure of semi-magic Ni-70(28)42 was investigated following complementary multinucleon-transfer and secondary fragmentation reactions. Changes to the higher-spin, presumed negative-parity states based on observed gamma-ray coincidence relationships result in better agreement with shell-model calculations using effective interactions in the neutron f(5/2)pg(9/2) model space. The second 2(+) and (4(+)) states, however, can only be successfully described when proton excitations across the Z = 28 shell gap are included. Monte Carlo shell-model calculations suggest that the latter two states are part of a prolate-deformed intruder sequence, establishing an instance of shape coexistence at low excitation energies similar to that observed recently in neighboring Ni-68.