Structure of 83As, 85As, and 87As : From semimagicity to gamma softness

The structure of As-83,As- 85, and As-87 have been studied in fusion-fission reaction( 238)U+9Be. Fission fragments were identified in mass and atomic number using the VAMOS++ spectrometer and the coincident gamma rays were detected in the gamma-ray tracking array AGATA. New transitions in 83As and 85As are reported and placed in the level schemes. A level scheme of the excited states in 87As is proposed for the first time. The data are interpreted in frame of large-scale shell-model calculations, SU3 symmetries, and beyond mean-field frameworks. A spherical regime at magic number N = 50 is predicted and the location of the proton g9/2 orbital is proposed for the first time. Development of collectivity in a prolate deformed, gamma-soft regime in the open shell cases 85As and 87As, most neutron-rich isotopes beyond N = 50, is concluded. Data and theoretical calculations give confidence to a relatively high extrapolated excitation energy about 4 MeV of the 9/2+ state in 79Cu, one proton above 78Ni.