Weak Coupling in ¹⁴³Nd

The high-spin states of ¹⁴³Nd have been studied in the ¹³⁰Te(¹⁸O, 5n)¹⁴³Nd reaction at a beam energy of 80 MeV using techniques of in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy. Measurements of γ - γ - t coincidences, γ-ray angular distributions, and γ-ray linear polarizations were performed. A level scheme of ¹⁴³Nd with spin and parity assignments up to 53/2⁺ is proposed. While a weak coupling model can explain the level structure up to the J^π=39/2^- state, this model can not reproduce the higher-lying states. Additionally, a new low-lying non-yrast level sequence in ¹⁴³Nd was observed in the present work, which can be well described by the weak coupling of an i_13/2 neutron to the ¹⁴²Nd core nucleus.