Direct Neutron Capture Cross Section on Ge80 and Probing Shape Coexistence in Neutron-Rich Nuclei

Results are presented from the first neutron-transfer measurement on Ge-80 using an exotic beam from the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Newly measured spins and spectroscopic factors of low-lying states of Ge-81 are determined, and the neutron capture cross section on Ge-80 was calculated in a direct-semidirect model to provide a more realistic (n, gamma) reaction rate for r-process simulations. Furthermore, a region of shape coexistence around N approximate to 50 is confirmed and implications for the magic nature of Ni-78 are discussed.