Quadrupole moment of the yrast superdeformed band in 144Gd -: art. no. 054302

A mean Lifetime measurement using the Doppler shift attenuation method has been performed at GASP in order to measure the quadrupole moment of the yrast superdeformed band of Gd-144. The extracted intrinsic quadrupole moment above the backbending, Q(o) = 13.7(-0.9)(+1.1) e b, is in nice agreement with cranked shell model predictions. To fit the data properly below the backbending a smaller Q(o) value is required (11.6(-1.0)(+1.4))e b. This is consistent with the predicted lower deformation in the second well for the configuration without high-N (pi N = 6 and nu N = 7) intruder orbitals occupied. [S0556-2813(99)02210-4].