Lifetimes for low-lying members of the irregular DeltaI = 1 band in Pb-196
have been measured by means of the EUROBALL spectrometer using the coincide
nce recoil distance technique. The Dy-164(S-36,4n)Pb-196 reaction at a beam
energy of 168 MeV was used. The data were analyzed with the differential d
ecay-curve method DDCM). A characteristic drop in the reduced transition pr
obabilities with increasing angular momentum was observed in agreement with
predictions by the semiclassical model for the shears mechanism.