Revised and extended level scheme of the doubly-odd nucleus 188Ir

High-spin states in the doubly odd Z=77 nucleus 188Ir were studied using the reaction 186W(7Li, 5n) at 59 MeV and the GASP spectrometer for γ-ray detection. The level structures recently suggested to be built on the known 4.1(3) ms isomeric state of this nucleus have been considerably revised and extended and an isomer with a lifetime of 17.7(2) ns has been identified within the main decay sequence. In addition two rotational bands built on low spin states below the ms isomer have been observed for the first time. The basic features of the excitation scheme of 188Ir are discussed within the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory within the Lipkin-Nogami approach with the finite-range density-dependent Gogny force.