Evidence For An Isomeric 3/2(-) State In Co-53

The fragmentation of a 550MeV/u primary beam of Ni-58 on a Be-9 target has been used to measure time-and energy-correlated gamma decays following the implantation of event-by-event discriminated secondary fragments into a Be-9 stopper plate. A new isomeric gamma decay with T-1/2 = 14(6 4) ns and E-gamma = 646.2(2) keV is observed and attributed to the decay of the yrast 3/2-state in Co-53(27)26. This short-lived isomeric state has been populated by means of nuclear reactions during the stopping process of the secondary fragments. The experimental findings are discussed in the framework of large-scale spherical shell model calculations in conjunction with isospin symmetry-breaking residual interactions for the A = 53, Tz = +/- 1/2 mirror nuclei Co-53 and Fe-53.