Projectile breakup and total reaction strengths in Li-induced reactions

Spectra and angular distributions have been measured for the light particles emitted from the reactions induced by 36 MeV ⁶Li and ⁷Li ions on targets of ¹²C, ¹³C and ²⁷Al. Some measurements were also performed at beam energies of 28 and 32 MeV. The spectra are dominated by broad peaks centered at energies corresponding to the beam velocity, a characteristic of projectile breakup. A simple breakup model roughly reproduces the shapes of the measured spectra and angular distributions. The total cross sections observed for projectile breakup average about 600 mb and are almost as large as the fusion cross sections. The ⁷Li breakup yields are somewhat larger than those for ⁶Li, the same trend that was previously observed for the Li-induced fusion cross sections on C. As a result the measured total reaction cross sections induced by ⁷Li ions are about 200 mb larger than those of ⁶Li on the same targets. This difference is not predicted by conventional optical model calculations.