Band crossings in the positive-parity high-spin states of [Formula Presented] and [Formula Presented]

Positive-parity high-spin states in the odd-proton nuclei [Formula Presented] and [Formula Presented] have been populated via the [Formula Presented] reaction at 56 MeV and the [Formula Presented] reaction at 99 MeV up to [Formula Presented] and [Formula Presented] respectively. In both nuclei band crossings have been observed at a spin of [Formula Presented] and interpreted as resulting from the alignment of a [Formula Presented] neutron pair, as in other odd-proton nuclei with 46 neutrons. In the three-quasiparticle high-spin excitations, the observed signature splitting and total Routhian surface calculations indicate that the [Formula Presented] nucleus exhibits a well-deformed near-oblate shape. No second alignment has been observed in the yrast sequence of [Formula Presented] up to a rotational frequency of 0.95 MeV, indicating that for [Formula Presented] and an oblate shape the breaking of a [Formula Presented] proton pair is energetically expensive.