Identification of a new isotope,168Dy

A previously unreported nuclide,¹⁶⁸Dy, has been identified and found to have a half-life of 8.5+-0.5 min. The activity was produced in the spontaneous fission of²⁵²Cf and transported via a He jet system to a rapid radiochemical separative facility where the Dy fraction was removed from the mixed fission products. The assignment of this activity to¹⁶⁸Dy decay was based on the presence of five γ rays in the chemically separated Dy fraction which were associated with the decay of an 8.5-min activity and on the observation of the grow-in and subsequent decay of the daughter, 2.98-min¹⁶⁸Ho, with approximately an 8-min half-life. The γ-ray emission probabilities have been determined.