The fusion-evaporation reaction Si28+Ca40 at 122 MeV beam energy was used to populate high-spin states in the odd-odd N=Z nucleus Ga62. With the combination of the Gammasphere spectrometer and the Microball CsI(Tl) charged-particle detector array the decay scheme of Ga62 was extended beyond 10 MeV excitation energy. The onset of band structures was observed. These high-spin rotational states are interpreted and classified by means of cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations.

The fusion-evaporation reaction S32+Si28 at 125 MeV beam energy was used to populate high-spin states in the semimagic N=28 nuclei Mn53 and Fe54. With a combination of the Gammasphere spectrometer and ancillary devices including the Microball CsI(Tl) array, extensive high-spin level schemes are derived. They exhibit rotational-like collective structures and competing single-particle excitations. The experimental results are compared with predictions from shell-model calculations, for which the inclusion of isopin-symmetry-breaking terms is found to improve the description. An interpretation of the high-spin states is put forward using cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations, indicative of contributions from collective excitations beyond some 8-MeV excitation energy and highlighting the importance of the g9/2 intruder orbital in this energy range.

The fusion-evaporation reaction Si28+Ca40 at 122 MeV beam energy was used to populate excited states in the N=Z+1 nucleus Ga63. With the combination of the Gammasphere spectrometer and the Microball CsI(Tl) charged-particle detector array, the level scheme of Ga63 was extended by more than a factor of two in terms of number of γ-ray transitions and excited states, excitation energy (Ex>30MeV), and angular momentum (I>30ℏ). Nine regular sequences of states were newly established in the high-spin part of the level scheme. The majority of these rotational band structures could be connected to the previously known part of the level scheme by high-energy γ-ray transitions in the energy range Eγ=4-6MeV. Low-spin states were assessed by shell-model calculations. The high-spin rotational bands were interpreted and classified by means of cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations.

The fusion-evaporation reaction at 125-MeV beam energy was used to populate excited states in . Combining the Gammasphere spectrometer with ancillary devices including the Microball CsI(Tl) array and a shell of neutron detectors, a comprehensive level scheme could be derived. The experimental results are compared with theoretical results from shell-model calculations. Taking into account isospin-symmetry breaking terms is found to considerably improve the shell-model description for . This motivated a predictive case study of near-yrast states in the mirror nucleus .

Forty-six decay chains, assigned to the decay of 115288, were produced using the Am243(Ca48,3n)115288 reaction at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 88-in. cyclotron. The resulting series of α decays were studied using α-photon and α-x-ray spectroscopies. Multiple α-photon coincidences were observed in the element 115 decay chain members, particularly in the third- and fourth-generation decays (presumed to be Rg280 and Mt276, respectively). Upon combining these data with those from 22 115288 decay chains observed in a similar experiment, updated level schemes in Mt276 and Bh272 (populated by the α decay of Rg280 and Mt276, respectively) are proposed. Photons were observed in the energy range expected for K x rays coincident with the α decay of both Rg280 and Mt276. However, Compton scattering of higher-energy γ rays and discrete transitions are present in the K x-ray region preventing a definitive Z identification to be made based on observation of characteristic K x-ray energies.

An upgraded TASISpec setup, with the addition of a veto DSSD and the new Compex detector-germanium array, has been employed with the gas-filled recoil separator TASCA at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung Darmstadt, to study flerovium (element 114) decay chains. The detector upgrades along with development of new analytical techniques have improved the sensitivity of the TASISpec setup for measuring α-photon coincidences. These improvements have been assessed with test reactions. The reaction 48Ca+206,207Pb was used for verification of experimental parameters such as transmission to implantation DSSD and target-segment to α-decay correlations. The reaction 48Ca+ nat Hf was used to produce several short-lived nuclei with multiple-α decay chains to investigate pile-up event deconvolution.

A nuclear spectroscopy experiment was conducted to study α-decay chains stemming from isotopes of flerovium (element Z=114). An upgraded TASISpec decay station was placed behind the gas-filled separator TASCA at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany. The fusion-evaporation reactions ^{48}Ca+^{242}Pu and ^{48}Ca+^{244}Pu provided a total of 32 flerovium-candidate decay chains, of which two and eleven were firmly assigned to ^{286}Fl and ^{288}Fl, respectively. A prompt coincidence between a 9.60(1)-MeV α particle event and a 0.36(1)-MeV conversion electron marked the first observation of an excited state in an even-even isotope of the heaviest man-made elements, namely ^{282}Cn. Spectroscopy of ^{288}Fl decay chains fixed Q_{α}=10.06(1)  MeV. In one case, a Q_{α}=9.46(1)-MeV decay from ^{284}Cn into ^{280}Ds was observed, with ^{280}Ds fissioning after only 518  μs. The impact of these findings, aggregated with existing data on decay chains of ^{286,288}Fl, on the size of an anticipated shell gap at proton number Z=114 is discussed in light of predictions from two beyond-mean-field calculations, which take into account triaxial deformation.

Produced in the reaction 48Ca+243Am, thirty correlated α-decay chains were observed in an experiment conducted at the GSI Helmholzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, Germany. The decay chains are basically consistent with previous findings and are considered to originate from isotopes of element 115 with mass numbers 287, 288, and 289. A set-up aiming specifically for high-resolution charged particle and photon coincidence spectroscopy was placed behind the gas-filled separator TASCA. For the first time, γ rays as well as X-ray candidates were observed in prompt coincidence with the α-decay chains of element 115.

Short-lived α-decaying nuclei "northeast" of Pb208 in the chart of nuclides were studied using the reaction Ca48+Am243 with the decay station TASISpec at TASCA, GSI Darmstadt. Decay energies and times from pile-up events were extracted with a tailor-made pulse-shape analysis routine and specific α-decay chains were identified in a correlation analysis. Decay chains starting with the even-even Ra220 and its odd-A neighbors, Fr219, and Ra221,219, with a focus on the Ra219→Rn215 decay, were studied by means of α-γ spectroscopy. A revised α-decay scheme of Ra219 is proposed, including a new decay branch from a previously not considered isomeric state at 17 keV excitation energy. Conclusions on nuclear structure are drawn from the experimental data, aided by Geant4 simulations and a discussion on theoretical calculations.

Products of the fusion-evaporation reaction 48Ca + 243Am were studied with the TASISpec set-up at the gas-filled separator TASCA at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, Germany. Amongst the detected thirty correlated α-decay chains associated with the production of element Z=115, two recoil-α-fission and five recoil-α-α-fission events were observed. The latter five chains are similar to four such events reported from experiments performed at the Dubna gas-filled separator, and three such events reported from an experiment at the Berkeley gas-filled separator. The four chains observed at the Dubna gas-filled separator were assigned to start from the 2n-evaporation channel 289115 due to the fact that these recoil-α-α-fission events were observed only at low excitation energies. Contrary to this interpretation, we suggest that some of these recoil-α-α-fission decay chains, as well as some of the recoil-α-α-fission and recoil-α-fission decay chains reported from Berkeley and in this article, start from the 3n-evaporation channel 288115.