The neutron-rich Ni isotopes serve as an important benchmark for nuclear structure modelsbecause they exhibit interesting phenomena such as shape or configuration coexistencedriven by cross-shell excitations. Reported here are the excited-state population distributionsfollowing one-proton, one-neutron, and two-proton knockout from 71Cu, 71Ni, and72Zn, respectively, into excited states of 70Ni. By comparing these final-state populations,this work will attempt to determine the role of neutron and proton excitations separatelyin the configurations of excited states. The specific aim is to identify those excited statesassociated with configurations containing proton excitations across the Z = 28 shell gap.These levels are suggested in the literature to be associated with prolate deformation atrelatively low excitation energy compared to neighboring isotopes in the nickel chain.
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