DOUBLE BAND CROSSING IN THE SUPERDEFORMED NUCLEUS GD-145

The nuclear structure of Gd-145 h,, been investigated via the Cd-114(S -36,5n) reaction. Three superdeformed bands have been discovered, cons isting of 17, 16 and 10 transitions, respectively, The first excited s uperdeformed band shows two band crossings which are assigned to the s ubsequent alignment of an i(13/2) proton pair and a crossing of the i( 13/2) and i(11/2) neutron orbitals, respectively. Such a double band c rossing has been observed for the first time. The second excited super deformed band is assigned as the signature partner of the previous ban d but shows no band crossing in the observed frequency range. The band crossing behaviour of the SD bands has been described theoretically.