Parity doublet structures in doubly-odd 216Fr

Parity doublet structures are established in Fr-216, which lies at the lower boundary of enhanced octupole collectivity in the trans-lead region. The newly identified levels are established as the simplex partner of a previously reported band leading to parity doublets with small (similar to 55 keV) average energy splitting, a feature typical of nuclei with near-static octupole deformation. The observed levels do not follow a regular pattern of rotational bands, indicating low quadrupole collectivity. However, enhanced octupole correlations are evident from the small energy splitting and large B(E1)/B(E2) values. Staggering in E1 transition energies and B(E1)/B(E2) ratios is noted. The enhancement of octupole correlations in Fr-216 is attributed to the availability of a neutron orbital with a K = 3/2 component.