Two-phonon octupole excitation in Gd146

The excited states in Gd-146 have been re-investigated with the Sm-144(alpha,2n) reaction using a modem Ge gamma-ray array including a polarimeter. Amongst the non-yrast states populated in this reaction we have identified the aligned 6(+) member of the two-phonon octupole quartet from the observation of the E3 branching to the one phonon 3(-) state. Our results represent the first observation of a 6(+)-> 3(-)-> 0(+) E3 cascade in an even-even nucleus.