High-Spin Structure Beyond Band Termination In Er-157

The angular-momentum induced transition from a deformed state of collective rotation to a noncollective configuration has been studied. In Er-157 this transition manifests itself as favored band termination near I=45 (h) over bar. The feeding of these band terminating states has been investigated for the first time using the Gammasphere spectrometer. Many weakly populated states lying at high excitation energy that decay into these special states have been discovered. Cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations suggest that these states arise from weakly collective "core-breaking" configurations.