Complete and incomplete fusion in12C+93Nb and16O+89Y reactions

Excitation functions for the evaporation residues for the reactions¹²C+⁹³Nb and¹⁶O+⁸⁹Y in the projectile energy range of 4 to 6.5 MeV/amu have been measured using off-line gamma spectrometry. The excitation functions for neutron(xn), proton(pxn) and one alpha(xn) emission channels are practically similar for both the reactions. However the products formed by two alpha(2xn) emission show much higher cross sections in the¹²C+⁹³Nb than the¹⁶O+⁸⁹Y system. This has been explained in terms of the incomplete fusion process involving transfer of an alpha particle from the projectile to the target in the former case.Authors thank Shri D.C. Ephraim for making the rolled metal foils and the operation crew of PELLETRON facility for their help in carrying out the irradiations. Authors are grateful to Dr. P.R. Natarajan, Head Radiochemistry Division for his keen interest in this work.     

Resonances and fluctuations in the 16O + 15N and 12C + 19F collisions

The search and study of quasi-molecular resonances in the ³¹P composite system populated via two entrance channels are performed with two different experimental techniques. The ¹⁶O + ¹⁵N reaction products have been studied by the γ-ray detection method at cm. energies ranging from 15.5 MeV to 36.1 MeV. Binary channels of the ¹⁶O + ¹⁵N and ¹²C + ¹⁹F collisions have been studied by using the kinematical coincidence method at 26 incident energies ranging from E_c.m. = 20.6MeV to 33.5MeV for the first system, and at energies corresponding to the same excitation energies of the composite system for the second system. The ¹⁶O + ¹⁵N reaction exhibits two prominent gross structures in the large angle elastic scattering excitation function correlated with the resonant structures observed in inelastic channel γ-ray yield measurements. Spin assignments were tentatively made for the two resonances. On the contrary, no such structures can be clearly established in the ¹²C + ¹⁹F system where only indications of non-correlated structures in various channels have been observed.     

89Yttrium nuclear magnetic resonance studies

With a Fourier-transform spectrometer, especially developed for nuclei with weak NMR signals, the lines of⁸⁹Y have been investigated in aqueous solutions of Y(NO₃)₃, YCl₃, and Y(ClO₄)₃. The concentration dependence of the chemical shifts of the⁸⁹Y resonance frequencies in these solutions were measured. Using this dependence, the Larmor frequency of the⁸⁹Y³⁺ ion solely surrounded by water was determined by extrapolation. The Larmor frequency of⁸⁹Y was referred to those of²H,³⁹K, and⁷³Ge with high accuracy. The magnetic moment of the⁸⁹Y³⁺ ion purely surrounded by H₂O molecules is μ(⁸⁹Y³⁺) = ?0.1368523(4) μ_N. The concentration dependence of Y(NO₃)₃ solutions in D₂O yields the solvent isotope effect δ(⁸⁹Y³⁺ in D₂O)?δ(⁸⁹Y³⁺ in H₂O)= ?(4.3±0.5)ppm. The⁸⁹Y relaxation times T₁ and T₂ of a 3 molal aqueous Y(NO₃)₃ solution were determined in the pH range ?0.5...+1.25. T₁ 190...90 s is nearly constant in this range, whereas the transverse relaxation rate T₂ ^?1 increases strongly with increasing pH; this effect seems to be due to the chemical exchange of the hydrated Y³⁺ ion between a monomer and a polymer site.     

Angular momentum transfer in incomplete fusion

Isomeric cross-section ratios of evaporation residues formed in¹²C+⁹³Nb and¹⁶O+⁸⁹Y reactions were measured by recoil catcher technique followed by off-line γ-ray spectrometry in the beam energy range of 55.7–77.5 MeV for¹²C and 68–81 MeV for¹⁶O. The isomeric cross-section ratios were resolved into that for complete and incomplete fusion reactions. The angular momentum of the intermediate nucleus formed in incomplete fusion was deduced from the isomeric cross-section ratio by considering the statistical deexcitation of the incompletely fused composite nucleus. The data show that incomplete fusion is associated with angular momenta slightly smaller than critical angular momentum for complete fusion, indicating the deeper interpenetration of projectile and target nuclei than that in peripheral collisions.     

Fusion cross section of the 16O + 16O collision

It is shown that the gross structure of the fusion cross section of the ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O collision is well reproduced by a simple coupled channel method including only elastic and inelastic ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O(3^?) channels, as well as the excitation functions of the elastic and total inelastic ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O(3^?) cross sections.     

Energy damping feature in light heavy-ion reactions

The energy damped reaction products from³⁷Cl+¹²C,²⁷Al,⁴⁸Ti and¹⁶O+⁴⁸Ti were measured over a wide range of angles (typically 18°<θ _lab<70°), incident energies (160 <E _lab(³⁷Cl)<200 MeV,E _lab(¹⁶O)=118 MeV) and charges Z, including two systems (³⁷Cl+³⁷Al and¹⁶O+⁴⁸Ti) which lead to the same compound nucleus⁶⁴Zn with the same excitation energy and comparable angular momenta. The angular dependences of total kinetic energy (TKE) and dσ/dθ were decomposed into two components (forward peaked and nearly constant at backward angles), and the elemental TKE and cross sections were derived. The backward components of³⁷Cl+²⁷Al and¹⁶O+⁴⁸Ti exhibit very different Z-distributions, indicating that the fragments do not originate from compound nucleus decay. The results can be understood in terms of an energy damping process.     

Decay of the compound nucleus179Au formed in the cold fusion reaction90Zr+89Y

For the compound nucleus¹⁷⁹Au formed at an excitation energy of 26 MeV in the fusion reaction⁹⁰Zr+⁸⁹Y, the energy spectra of promptly emitted protons,α particles andγ rays were measured in concidence with the evaporation residues. On the basis of the measured total decay energy, the 1p and 1α decay channels were separated from all other evaporation-residue channels. The energy spectra and absolute cross sections, together with previously measured excitation functions for various decay channels, are successfully described by statisticalmodel calculations with the Monte Carlo code CODEX.     

Motions of the flux lines in high-T c superconductors from NMR linewidth,relaxation and spin echo decay

The motion of the flux lines (FL) in high temperature superconductors and their relationship with the NMR quantities are reviewed and discussed in the light of recent⁸⁹Y NMR experiments in YBCO-type compounds. In particular measurements involving the⁸⁹Y spin echo attenuation induced both by the thermal excitation of the FL’s and by motions driven by DC current and pulsed magnetic fields are presented, with preliminary results and lines of interpretation. Flux line motion as observed with¹⁹⁹Hg NMR in HgBa₂CuO_4+δ high temperature superconductor is discussed.     

Investigations of Properties of <Superscript>89</Superscript>Y Levels with Reactor Fast Neutrons

By employing a beam of reactor fast neutrons, the spectrum of gamma rays up to an energy of 4.6MeV and their angular distributions with respect to the neutron-beamaxis aremeasured in the reaction ⁸⁹Y(n, n'γ). The multipolarities and multipole-mixture parameters for 34 gamma transitions and the spin–parities J^π of states excited in this reaction are determined. The lifetimes of the lowest 32 levels of 89Y were measured by the Doppler shift attenuation method, and the reduced probabilities for the respective gamma transitions were calculated. Levels of the K^π = +5/2⁺ and K^π = ?7/2⁺ bands associated with, respectively, prolate and oblate deformation shapes are found in ⁸⁹Y at low excitation energies.     

Correlation of photoluminescence of (Y, Ln)VO4:Eu (Ln=Gd and La) phosphors with their crystal structures

We have studied the photoluminescence (PL) of (Y, Ln)VO₄:Eu³⁺ (Ln=La and Gd) phosphors and the correlation of the PL of those phosphor with their crystal structure. It is found that (Y, Gd)VO₄:Eu³⁺ phosphors have the same crystal structure as YVO₄:Eu³⁺, which is tetragonal with a little different lattice parameters. In the case of (Y, La)VO₄:Eu³⁺ phosphors, however, the gradual change from tetragonal to monoclinic structure of host lattice was observed as the amount of La ion increased. To investigate the PL property of (Y, Ln)VO₄:Eu³⁺ (Ln=La and Gd) phosphors, vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and ultraviolet (UV) excitation were used. The favorable crystal structure for the PL intensity of orthovanadate phosphor under 147 and 254 nm excitation was tetragonal containing Gd ion and under 365 nm excitation was monoclinic containing La ion which might have the lowest site symmetry for Eu³⁺ ion.     

Spectroscopy of A = 16 from 13C(6Li,t)16O

The ¹³C(⁶Li, t)¹⁶O reaction has been studied at 34 MeV. Selective population of narrow states is observed up to 21 MeV excitation in ¹⁶O. This reaction populates strongly both unnatural-and natural-parity states that have little or no ¹²C + α₀ width. The measured angular distributions are compared with Hauser-Feshbach and finite-range DWBA calculations. Reasonable agreement with the DWBA calculations is found for most of the states strongly populated. The widths of the narrow states populated in the 16–20 MeV excitation region are presented. Comparison of the present data with that from medium-energy inelastic scattering and other multiparticle transfer reactions is made.     

Luminescent properties of (Y,Gd)BO3:Bi,RE (RE=Eu, Tb) phosphor under VUV/UV excitation

Bi³⁺- and RE³⁺-co-doped (Y,Gd)BO₃ phosphors were prepared and their luminescent properties under vacuum ultraviolet (VUV)/UV excitation were investigated. Strong red emission for (Y,Gd)BO₃:Bi³⁺,Eu³⁺ and strong green emission for (Y,Gd)BO₃:Bi³⁺,Tb³⁺ are observed under VUV excitation from 147 to 200 nm with a much broader excitation region than that of single Eu³⁺-doped or Tb³⁺-doped (Y,Gd)BO₃ phosphor. Strong emissions are also observed under UV excitation around 265 nm where as nearly no luminescence is observed for single Eu³⁺-doped or Tb³⁺-doped (Y,Gd)BO₃. The luminescence enhancement of Bi³⁺- and RE³⁺-co-doped (Y,Gd)BO₃ phosphors is due to energy transfer from Bi³⁺ ion to Eu³⁺ or Tb³⁺ ion not only in the VUV region but also in the UV region. Besides, host sensitization competition between Bi³⁺ and Eu³⁺ or Tb³⁺ is also observed. The investigated phosphors may be preferable for devices with a VUV light 147-200 nm as an excitation source such as PDP or mercury-free fluorescent lamp.     

Thermodynamics stability,electronic structures and spectroscopic properties of defects and Ce3+ ions in Y2O3

Thermodynamic properties, electronic structures and spectroscopic properties of defects and Ce³⁺ in Y₂O₃ are studied by using the hybrid density functional theory associated with multi-reference configuration interaction ab-initio calculations. Thermodynamic transition energy levels of the easily generated oxygen vacancies in the host are analyzed according to HSE06-calculated formation energies, which may be conducive to interpretations of the persistent luminescence (PersL) of Y₂O₃-based phosphors. Besides, the locations of impurity states (caused by V_O and Ce³⁺) in energy bands are obtained from derived density of states. Moreover, energies and oscillator strengths of 4f₁ → 5d₁₋₅ transitions of Ce³⁺ ions (at Y1 and Y2 sites) calculated from the CASSCF/CASPT2/RASSI−SO method agree reasonably well with experimental excitation spectra of Y₂O₃: Ce³⁺ phosphors, achieving the assignment of excitation spectra. The presented calculations can be applied to identify luminescent centers in Ce³⁺-doped phosphors and reveals possible native defects and their roles in the PersL of phosphors.     

Partial width fluctuation method of determining nuclear level density

A new method of determining the nuclear level density is presented. This method is based on the statistical analysis of the partial width fluctuations appearing in an excitation function of the radiative proton capture. The method was applied in the case of the ⁸⁸Sr(p, γ₀)⁸⁹Y and⁸⁹Y(p, γ₀)⁹⁰Zr reactions. The density of levels with spin 1^? in ⁹⁰Zr and the densities of levels with spins $\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ and $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ in ⁸⁹Y at excitation energies from 10.9 to 11.6 MeV and from 9.3 to 10.8 MeV respectively, were determined with an uncertainty of about 35%.     

Heavy ion induced transfer reactions on 148Nd

Transfer reactions induced by ¹⁶O and ¹⁸O beams on ¹⁴⁸Nd were measured with a time-of-flight setup at 72 MeV incident energy. The angular distributions are bell shapes having their maxima at angles somewhat below the grazing angle. The excitation in the final nuclei takes place (if possible) near the optimum Q-value and is spread over 5 MeV for the one-particle transfer reactions and up to 10 MeV for the multiparticle transfers. The cross sections for the individual channels are explained mostly by Q-window considerations. In spite of the differences in the individual channels the total transfer cross section integrated over excitation energy, angle, and all channels turns out to be the same same for both ¹⁶O and ¹⁸O beams. This cross section amounts to 20 % of the total reaction cross section and nicely fills the gap between the measured fusion cross section and the total reaction cross section obtained from optical model calculations based on elastic scattering data.     

Comparison of the fusion reactions12C+20Ne and16O+16O near the Coulomb barrier

The partial cross sections of heavy residual nuclei produced in the heavy ion fusion of¹²C+²⁰Ne have been measured atE _c.m.=6–15 MeV viaγ-ray spectroscopy with a Ge(Li) detector. Windowless and recirculating gas target systems have been used. The dominant residual nuclei are²⁴Mg,²⁷Al,²⁸Si,³⁰Si,³⁰P and³¹P, which arise from two- and three-body breakups in the exit channels. The observed excitation functions are smooth in their energy dependence and give no indications for the existence of pronounced resonance structures, in contrast to theoretical predictions. The Coulomb excitation of²⁰Ne served as an intrinsic calibration standard in the determination of absolute partial and total fusion cross sections. The same experimental set-up was also used in the reaction studies of¹⁶O+¹⁶O atE _c.m.=7–14 MeV, going through the same compound nucleus³²S at similar excitation energies. The observed energy dependence in the excitation functions is in good agreement with previous work. The total fusion cross section agrees fairly well with two sets of values reported previously, but deviates significantly from other reported absolute cross section values. The relative evaporation distributions of the residual nuclei are similar for both heavy ion reactions. However, the ratio of their total fusion cross sections deviates from model predictions and suggests that compound nucleus formation does depend on the microscopic structure of the colliding nuclei in the entrance channel. From the observed energy dependence of the above ratio, particularly at subcoulomb energies, geometrical effects in the entrance channel (due to deformed and spherical nuclei) appear to be weak. The astrophysical aspects of the data in the context of late stellar nucleosynthesis are discussed.     

Electron impact excitation of higher energy states of molecular oxygen in the atmosphere of Europa

Recent measurements of integral cross sections for electron impact excitation of the Schumann-Runge continuum, longest band and second band of molecular oxygen are applied to calculations of emissions from the atmosphere of Europa. Molecules excited to these bands predissociate, producing O(¹D) (excited oxygen) atoms which subsequently decay to produce 630.0-nm radiation. Radiation of this wavelength is also produced by direct excitation of O atoms and by the recombination of O \hbox{₂⁺_2^+} + 2 with electrons, but these two processes also produce O(¹S) atoms which then emit at 557.7 nm. It is shown by modeling that the ratio of 630.0-nm to 557.7-nm is sensitive to the relative importance of the three processes, suggesting that the ratio would be a useful remote sensing probe in the atmosphere of Europa. In particular, the excitation of the Schumann-Runge continuum, longest band and second band is produced by magnetospheric electrons while the recombination is produced by secondary electrons produced in the atmosphere. This difference raises the possibility of determination of the secondary electron spectrum by measurement of light emissions.     

On the resonant behavior of the16O+15N reaction

The ¹⁶ O+ ¹⁵ N reaction products have been studied by the γ-ray detection method in the CM energy range 15.5 to 36.1 MeV and by the kinematical coincidence method at energies ranging from E _CM =20.6 to 33.5MeV. The γ-ray yield excitation function of the ¹⁶O 3^? inelastic channel shows the existence of resonant structures. Two structures with ～ 1.6 MeV width are observed in the large angle elastic scattering excitation function, they are correlated with the resonances seen in the inelastic channel. Angular momentum assignments were made from the elastic backward angular distributions.     

High-resolution (e,e') study of isovector M1 and M2 transitions in the oxygen isotopes: (III). 18O

The excitation energy region in ¹⁸O from about E_x = 11–27 MeV has been studied with low-momentum transfer, but high-resolution inelastic electron scattering. Two sharp lines are prominent in the spectra, corresponding to the excitation of T = 2 levels at 16.399 ± 0.005 MeV and 18.871 ± 0.005 MeV of J^π = 2^? and 1⁺, respectively. In contradiction to theoretical predictions no more strong M2 transitions could be found. Broad peaks were observed at 18.5, 19.7, 20.2, 22.5 and 23.8 MeV, the latter two are due to the giant dipole resonance as known from photonuclear reactions. The spectra show in addition considerable fine structure and the application of a cross correlation function technique for its analysis resulted in the location of twelve more low multipolarity weak transitions in the excitation energy range between 16 and 19 MeV. Tentative J^π assignments are given for these levels. The spectra of isospin T = 2 states of A = 18 nuclei are discussed in view of the existing experimental and theoretical work. Finally, the pattern of the isovector M1 and M2 strength distributions of all the three oxygen isotopes ^16,17,18O is discussed.