Lifetime measurements in $$^{138}$$ 138 Nd

Lifetimes of the 2 $$_1^{+}$$ , 4 $$_1^{+}$$ , 7 $$_2^{-}$$ , 10 $$_2^{+}$$ , 12 $$_2^{+}$$ , and 14 $$_1^{+}$$ states in $$^{138}$$ Nd populated via the $$^{123}$$ Sb( $$^{19}$$ F, 4n) $$^{138}$$ Nd fusion–evaporation reaction were measured with the recoil distance Doppler shift technique in combination with the differential decay curve method. The $$B(E2; 2_{1}^{+} \rightarrow 0_{1}^{+})$$ value fit well with the systematic trend in the Nd isotope chain and Grodzins rule, which proved that $$^{138}$$ Nd is a transitional nucleus.