Decay of the neutron-rich isotope Ho171 and the identification of Dy169

Neutron-rich rare-earth isotopes were produced in multinucleon transfer reactions between Er170 ions and Wnat targets. On-line mass separation was used together with - and -ray spectroscopy in these studies. At mass A=169, the heaviest known dysprosium isotope, 39(8) s,169Dy, was identified. It was observed to - decay to the ground state of Ho169 or through a level at 1578 keV. In the A=171 mass chain, a partial decay scheme for 55(3)-s Ho171 was determined.