Structure of $T=2\mathrm{}$ ${}^{24}\mathrm{Ne}$ from ${}^{14}\mathrm{C}$ on ${}^{14}\mathrm{C}$

The ${}^{14}\mathrm{C}{(}^{14}\mathrm{C},\alpha )$ reaction at 22 MeV was used to study $T=2\mathrm{}$ ${}^{24}\mathrm{Ne}.$ Charged particles were detected with a Si detector telescope at $0°,$ and $\gamma$ transitions in coincidence were detected with an array of three Compton-suppressed “clover” detectors and seven Compton-suppressed single Ge crystals. The $\alpha -\gamma$ and $\alpha -\gamma -\gamma$ coincidence data were analyzed to study the structure of ${}^{24}\mathrm{Ne}.$ Twenty-two new $\gamma$ lines were assigned to 14 new levels. Angular distribution measurements provided spin assignments and restrictions to a number of levels. Likely candidates were found for the lowest $5^{+}$ and $6^{+}$ levels. All but one of the 12 states predicted to lie below 6 MeV by shell model calculations using the universal $s-d$ interaction were observed. The rms deviation in excitation energies among these is 190 keV, and there is a tendency for the observed levels to lie somewhat higher than the predicted ones. A comparison of the structure of ${}^{24}\mathrm{Ne}$ with its neighbors suggests a significant shell gap above the $\nu d_{5/2}$ orbital in agreement with the large $d_{5/2}-s_{1/2}$ gap implied by the effective single-particle energies in the universal $s-d$ shell model interaction.