A classic region of band termination at high spin occurs in rare-earth nuclei with around ten valence nucleons above the ¹⁴⁶Gd closed core. Results are presented here for such non-collective oblate (γ = 60°) terminating states in odd-Z ¹⁵⁵Ho, odd-odd ¹⁵⁶Ho, and even-even ¹⁵⁶Er, where they are compared with neighbouring nuclei. In addition to these particularly favoured states, the occurrence of collective triaxial strongly deformed (TSD) bands, bypassing the terminating states and extending to over 65h, is reviewed.

The highest-spin discrete states (I ∼ 60ℏ and Ex ∼ 30MeV) in normal deformed nuclei have been observed in the rare-earth isotope 156Dy using the GAMMASPHERE spectrometer. The quadrupole moments for a variety of configurations, including the 9/2+[404] (g9/2) proton, 1/2+[660] (i13/2) and 1/2-[541] (f7/2, h9/2) neutron orbitals, were measured in a wide range of ∼ 130 nuclei.

Previous experiments observed a 4^{+} state in the N=28 nucleus ^{44}S and suggested that this state may exhibit a hindered E2-decay rate, inconsistent with being a member of the collective ground state band. We populate this state via two-proton knockout from a beam of exotic ^{46}Ar projectiles and measure its lifetime using the recoil distance method with the GRETINA γ-ray spectrometer. The result, 76(14)_{stat}(20)_{syst}  ps, implies a hindered transition of B(E2;4^{+}→2_{1}^{+})=0.61(19) single-particle or Weisskopf units strength and supports the interpretation of the 4^{+} state as a K=4 isomer, the first example of a high-K isomer in a nucleus of such low mass.

The neutron-rich nucleus ^{144}Ba (t_{1/2}=11.5  s) is expected to exhibit some of the strongest octupole correlations among nuclei with mass numbers A less than 200. Until now, indirect evidence for such strong correlations has been inferred from observations such as enhanced E1 transitions and interleaving positive- and negative-parity levels in the ground-state band. In this experiment, the octupole strength was measured directly by sub-barrier, multistep Coulomb excitation of a post-accelerated 650-MeV ^{144}Ba beam on a 1.0-mg/cm^{2} ^{208}Pb target. The measured value of the matrix element, ⟨3_{1}^{-}∥M(E3)∥0_{1}^{+}⟩=0.65(+17/-23) eb^{3/2}, corresponds to a reduced B(E3) transition probability of 48(+25/-34)  W.u. This result represents an unambiguous determination of the octupole collectivity, is larger than any available theoretical prediction, and is consistent with octupole deformation.

The N ∼ 90 region of the nuclear chart has featured prominently as the spectroscopy of nuclei at extreme spin has progressed. This talk will present recent discoveries from investigations of high spin behavior in the N ∼ 90 Er, Tm and Yb nuclei utilizing the Gammasphere gamma-ray spectrometer. In particular it will include discussion of the beautiful shape evolution and coexistence observed in these nuclei along with the identification of a remarkable new family of band structures. The latter are very weakly populated rotational sequences with high moment of inertia that bypass the classic terminating configurations near spin 40-50h{stroke}, marking a return to collectivity that extends discrete γ-ray spectroscopy to well over 60h{stroke}. Establishing the nature of the yrast states in these nuclei beyond the oblate band-termination states has been a major goal for the past two decades. Cranking calculations suggest that these new structures most likely represent stable triaxial strongly deformed bands that lie in a valley of favored shell energy in deformation and particle-number space.