Observation of a candidate for the M1 scissors resonance in odd-odd Ho 166

The γ -strength function and the nuclear level density for the odd-odd, rare-earth nucleus 166 Ho have been extracted from 163 Dy(α, pγ ) 166 Ho data using the Oslo method. A structure at ≈3 MeV in the γ -strength function is interpreted as the M1 scissors resonance. By employing three different methods we find that its strength depends rather strongly on the modeling of the E 1 strength, while its centroid does not. The 166 Ho scissors resonance parameters are consistent with previous results on other rare-earth nuclei.