First Evidence of Axial Shape Asymmetry and Configuration Coexistence in $^{74}$Zn: Suggestion for a Northern Extension of the $N=40$ Island of Inversion

The excited states of $N=44$ $^{74}$Zn were investigated via $γ$-ray spectroscopy following $^{74}$Cu $β$ decay. By exploiting $γ$-$γ$ angular correlation analysis, the $2_2^+$, $3_1^+$, $0_2^+$ and $2_3^+$ states in $^{74}$Zn were firmly established. The $γ$-ray branching and $E2/M1$ mixing ratios for transitions de-exciting the $2_2^+$, $3_1^+$ and $2_3^+$ states were measured, allowing for the extraction of relative $B(E2)$ values. In particular, the $2_3^+ \to 0_2^+$ and $2_3^+ \to 4_1^+$ transitions were observed for the first time. The results show excellent agreement with new microscopic large-scale shell-model calculations, and are discussed in terms of underlying shapes, as well as the role of neutron excitations across the $N=40$ gap. Enhanced axial shape asymmetry (triaxiality) is suggested to characterize $^{74}$Zn in its ground state. Furthermore, an excited $K=0$ band with a significantly larger softness in its shape is identified. A shore of the $N=40$ ``island of inversion'' appears to manifest above $Z=26$, previously thought as its northern limit in the chart of the nuclides.