First evidence of low energy enhancement in Ge isotopes

The γ-strength functions and level densities of 73,74 Ge have been extracted from particle-γ coincidence data using the Oslo method. In addition the γ-strength function of 74 Ge above the neutron separation threshold, Sn = 10.196 MeV has been extracted from photoneutron measurements. When combined, these two experiments give a γ-strength function covering the energy range of ~ 1-13 MeV for 74 Ge. This thorough investigation of 74Ge is a part of an international campaign to study the previously reported low energy enhancement in this mass region in the γ-strength function from ~ 3 MeV towards lower γ energies. The obtained data show that both 73,74 Ge display an increase in strength at low γ energies.