Photoexcitation of 76Ge

The dipole strength of the nuclide 76Ge was studied in photon-scattering experiments using bremsstrahlung produced with electron beams of energies of 7.8 and 12.3 MeV at the γELBE facility. We identified 210 levels up to an excitation energy of 9.4 MeV and assigned spin J = 1 to most of them. The quasicontinuum of unresolved transitions was included in the analysis of the spectra and the intensities of branching transitions were estimated on the basis of simulations of statistical γ-ray cascades. The photoabsorption cross section up to the neutron-separation energy was determined and compared with predictions of the statistical reaction model as well as with results of experiments using other reactions.