Sequential emission of neutrons in the reaction16O+64Ni at 7.5–12 MeV per nucleon

Neutron energy and angular distributions have been studied in coincidence with projectilelike fragments (PF) for quasielastic and deeply inelastic collisions of¹⁶O on⁶⁴Ni at 7.5–12 MeV/u bombarding energy. The neutron yield can be explained assuming only two isotropically emitting sources:i) sequential emission from fully accelerated PF andii) evaporation from fully accelerated targetlike fragments (TF). ForZ=6 andZ=8 ejectiles known excited states in¹³C and¹⁷O could be identified. For oxygen, this suggests a direct excitation process,n pickup from the target. No significant evidence for preequilibrium neutron emission was found even at the highest bombarding energy. The TF temperatures and neutron multiplicities are consistent with the assumption that thermal equilibrium was reached during the binary reaction.