Excited states in 52Fe have been determined up to spin 10\hbar in the
reaction 28Si + 28Si at 115 MeV by using \gamma-ray spectroscopy methods at the
GASP array. The excitation energy of the yrast 10+ state has been determined to
be 7.381 MeV, almost 0.5 MeV above the well known \beta+-decaying yrast 12+
state, definitely confirming the nature of its isomeric character. The mean
lifetimes of the states have been measured by using the Doppler Shift
Attenuation method. The experimental data are compared with spherical shell
model calculations in the full pf-shell.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, 7 figures include