A high-resolution spectroscopic study of the gamma radiation from the decay of96Nb

The decay of 24h⁹⁶Nb has been studied with a Ge(Li) spectrometer and with a Ge(Li)-NaI(Tl) coincidence spectrometer. A total of 27 gamma-ray transitions were observed, their energies and intensities measured. All but one of these have been incorporated into the level scheme of⁹⁶Mo. The level at 1,625.9 keV reported recently in (n _th, γ) work on⁹⁵Nb has also been observed through the decay of⁹⁶Nb. No experimental evidence has been found for previously proposed levels at 2,657 and 2,791 keV in⁹⁶Mo.