Investigation of neutron-deficient tungsten isotopes168−174W

The decays of^168?174W were observed in the reactions of³⁶Ar and⁴⁰Ar beams with enriched targets of¹³⁶BaF₂ and¹³⁸BaF₂. The measured half-lives are 53(2) s, 76(6) s, 2.42(4) min, 2.38(4) min, 6.6(9) min, 6.3(4) min, and 35.3 (5) min, respectively. Decay schemes were derived from theγ ^? and X-ray coincidence data. Spin assignments of ground- and excited states are discussed within experimental level systematics and compared with the results of microscopic-macroscopic model calculations. Excitation energies of modeled one-quasiparticle states were found in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Allowed unhindered beta decay from the 5/2^? [523] to the 7/2^? [523] configuration was identified in¹⁷¹W and this transition is also proposed for the decays of the even-even isotopes^{168, 170}W.