The low-lying yrast structure of ²¹²Po

The properties of states in ²¹²Po populated by the ²⁰⁸Pb(⁹Be, αn)²¹²Po reaction have been investigated. The previously proposed yrast scheme below ~3 MeV has been verified and eight further transitions placed in the level scheme. Mean lives of the 6⁺, 8⁺ and (10⁺) states at 1355, 1476 and 1834 keV have been measured as 1.1 (3), 24.6 (3) and 0.8 (2) ns respectively. Shell model calculations using effective interactions were used to interpret the observed scheme. A synthesis of all available theoretical and experimental evidence allows the τ_m = 65 s isomer to be identified clearly as the 18⁺ level arising primarily from the π(h _{9 2} ²) * ν(g _{9 2}i _{1 2}) configuration.