Cross sections of 43Sc, 44Sc, 46Sc isotopes formed in the 45Sc + 3He reaction

Reactions ⁴⁵Sc(³He, αn)⁴³Sc, ⁴⁵Sc(³He, α)⁴⁴Sc and ⁴⁵Sc(³He, 2p)⁴⁶Sc in the ³He energy range of 5 to 24 MeV are investigated in experiments performed with a ³He ion beam during the irradiation of U-120M cyclotron scandium targets. Activation is used to determine the yield of nascent Sc isotopes. The γ activity induced in targets is measured using a high-resolution HPGe detector. The character of the excitation function changes during the formation of these ions and differs from the excitation functions for deuterons, despite the low bond energy of ³He and the positive values of the Q reactions leading to the formation of ⁴⁴Sc and ⁴⁶Sc isotopes. The cross sections of ⁴⁴Sc formation reach their maximum value at the Coulomb barrier of the reaction, due to the stable ⁴He nucleus that accompanies the formation of ⁴⁴Sc. The contribution from different reaction mechanisms to the cross sections of ⁴³Sc, ⁴⁴Sc, and ⁴⁶Sc isotope formation are considered.     

Excitation functions for 44Sc, 46Sc, and 47Sc radionuclides produced in the interaction of 45Sc with deuterons and 6He

Experimental excitation functions are presented for ⁴⁵Sc(d, p)⁴⁶Sc, ⁴⁵Sc(d, t)⁴⁴Sc, ⁴⁵Sc(⁶He, ⁵He*)⁴⁶Sc and ⁴⁵Sc(6He, α)⁴⁷Sc reactions at projectile energies near the Coulomb barrier. The obtained excitation functions for reactions ⁴⁵Sc(d, p)⁴⁶Sc and ⁴⁵Sc(⁶He, ⁵He*)⁴⁶Sc have similar behavior and have a maxima near the Coulomb barriers of these reactions. The compilation of the available experimental data, obtained at deuteron- and ⁶He-energies near the Coulomb barrier, showed that the values of the cross sections at the maxima of the excitation functions obtained in (d, p) reactions and the reactions for one-neutron pickup from the ⁶He projectiles have a different Z-dependence.     

The45Sc(3He,d)46Ti reaction. DWBA analysis of transitions to states between 7.6 and 11.0 MeV

Angular distributions of transitions to 29 states in⁴⁶Ti between 7.6 and 11.0 MeV excitation energy from the⁴⁵Sc (³He,d) reaction at 15 MeV have been compared with DWBA predictions. The results support previously suggestedT=2 states in⁴⁶Ti.     

The46Ti(d,τ)45Sc reaction

The⁴⁶Ti(d, τ)⁴⁵Sc reaction has been investigated at an incident energy of 52 MeV. Angular distributions have been taken for 14 τ-groups corresponding to excitation energies below 4 MeV in⁴⁵Sc. Spectroscopic factors were extracted through DWBA calculations. Spins and parities of 5/2⁺ are proposed for states at 1.30, 1.80, 2.91, 3.48, and 3.72 MeV. The hole state spectrum of⁴⁵Sc closely resembles that of⁴⁷Sc. A strong fractionation of the 1d _3/2 strength was not observed in contrast to other recent work. The data provide evidence for (1f _7/2 · 1f _5/2 ¹) components in the ground state wave function of⁴⁶Ti, which demonstrates that such configurations are not restricted to neutron excitations.     

Cross sections and thermonuclear reaction rates for 42Ca(p, γ)43Sc, 44Ca(p, γ) 45Sc, 44Ca(p,n) 44Sc and 45Sc(p,n)45Ti

The yield of γ-rays from the reaction ⁴²Ca(p, γ)⁴³Sc has been measured as a function of bombarding energy over the range 0.63–3.01 MeV, from ⁴⁴Ca(p, γ)⁴⁵Sc over the range 0.775–4.00 MeV, from ⁴²Ca(p, p'γ)⁴²Ca over the range 2.24–3.01 MeV, and from ⁴⁴Ca(p, p'γ)⁴⁴Ca over the range 1.90–5.03 MeV. The cross section of the reaction ⁴⁴Ca(p, n)⁴⁴Sc has been measured from threshold to a bombarding energy of 5.05 MeV by observation of the 1157 keV γ-ray associated with the residual ⁴⁴Sc activity, and the cross section of the reaction ⁴⁵Sc(p, n)⁴⁵Ti has been measured from threshold to a bombarding energy of 4.00 MeV both by observation of the annihilation radiation associated with the residual ⁴⁵Ti activity and by measurement of the total neutron yield with a wide-angle BF₃ tube and paraffin detector. All these data are compared with statisticalmodel calculations and satisfactory agreement is achieved. Thermonuclear reaction rates for the (p, γ) and (p, n) reactions are calculated for the temperature range 5 × 10⁸-10¹⁰K and the significance of these results for explosive nucleosynthesis in stars is discussed.     

Near-barrier neutron transfer in reactions <Superscript>6</Superscript>He + <Superscript>45</Superscript>Sc, <Superscript>64</Superscript>Zn,and <Superscript>197</Superscript>Au

Experimental cross sections of formation of isotopes ⁴⁶Sc (in reaction ⁶He + ⁴⁵Sc), ^196,198Au (in reaction ⁶He + ¹⁹⁷Au), and ⁶⁵Zn (in reaction ⁶He + ⁶⁴Zn) are analyzed. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the outer neutrons of ⁶He and ¹⁹⁷Au nuclei is solved numerically to calculate the probability of neutron transfer and transfer cross sections. In reaction ⁶He + ¹⁹⁷Au, the contribution of fusion and subsequent evaporation to experimental data can be neglected, while the corresponding contributions to reactions ⁶He + ⁴⁵Sc and ⁶He + ⁶⁴Zn are considerable. Fusion–evaporation is taken into account using the computational code of the NRV knowledge base. The results of calculations are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data.     

Hyperfine anomalies of Sc isotopes (A = 44, 44 m, 46 and 47) in iron

Nuclear magnetic resonance on oriented nuclei (NMR-ON) on Sc isotopes (A = 44, 44 m, 46, 47) in Fe were performed. Using the known magnetic moments the magnetic hyperfine fields were determined. The hyperfine anomalies of various Sc were deduced; ⁴⁴Δ⁴⁷ = 0.0 (12) %, ^44mΔ⁴⁷ = 1.2 (4) %, ⁴⁶Δ⁴⁷ = 2.7 (8) %. The measured hyperfine anomalies are briefly discussed based on the shell model.     

Spin assignment for the 1.89 MeV level in42Sc

The gamma decay mode and the spin value of the 1.89 MeV state of⁴²Sc were investigated by studying the⁴⁰Ca(³He,p γ)⁴²Sc reaction at 10.0 MeV energy of the incident³He beam. The analysis of thep-γ angular correlation of the 1.89 MeV ground state transition — using method II of Litherland and Ferguson — yields the spin assignmentJ=1 for this level.     

Near-barrier neutron transfer in reactions with <Superscript>3</Superscript>He nucleus

Experimental cross sections for the formation of ^196,198Au isotopes in the ³He + ¹⁹⁷Au reaction and ^44,46Sc isotopes in the ³He + ⁴⁵Sc reaction are analyzed. To calculate transfer probabilities and cross sections, the time-dependent Schrödinger equation is numerically solved for the external neutrons of the ³He, ⁴⁵Sc, and ¹⁹⁷Au nuclei. It is shown that the contribution from the fusion channel with subsequent evaporation is important for the ³He + ⁴⁵Sc reaction and negligibly small for the ³He + ¹⁹⁷Au reaction. Fusion–evaporation is taken into account using the NRV and PACE codes. Calculation results demonstrate overall satisfactory agreement with experimental data.     

Single-particle and core-excited states in 49Sc: (I). The 48Ca(3He,d)49Sc reaction

The ⁴⁸Ca(³He, d)⁴⁹Sc reaction has been studied at 25 MeV incident energy. Angular distributions have been measured from 5° to 40° using a split-pole spectrometer, for about 160 levels located up to 18 MeV excitation energy. A local zero-range DWBA analysis has been carried out, using Gamow functions as form factors in the case of unbound states; l-assignments and spectroscopic factors are obtained for a large number of levels, most of them previously unknown. The summed experimental spectroscopic strengths for the T_<, l = 1 and l = 3 levels are in good agreement with the shell-model sum-rule limits for 1f-2p proton states, and their energy centroids have been determined. The $\text{lg}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>9</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ strength in ⁴⁹Sc is strongly fragmented: about 27% of the T_< strength is carried by twenty-three levels located between 6.5 and 13.5 MeV. Spectroscopic factors for analog states are compared with those from previous (p, p), (³He, dp) and (d, p) experiments.     

Nuclear structure of 47Sc: (I). Gamma-ray correlations and lifetime measurements

Levels of ⁴⁷Sc below an excitation energy of 2.7 MeV have been investigated through the ⁴⁴Ca(α, pγ)⁴⁷Sc reaction. Gamma-ray spectra in coincidence with protons were recorded with a Ge(Li) detector positioned at several angles and at α-energies of 10.15 and 11.00 MeV. Level positions, lifetimes, decay modes and spin values were deduced from these measurements. This study was supplemented by a γ-γ coincidence measurement. The electromagnetic properties for the negative parity states are compared with intermediate coupling predictions. A classification of the positive parity states into several rotational bands is proposed.     

The structure and properties of45Sc at low excitation energies

The spins and electromagnetic properties of levels in⁴⁵Sc up to 2,352 keV were studied by means of inelastic proton scattering using a 3-parameter coincidence arrangement and Coulomb excitation with³He and⁴He beams. Relevant experimental results are discussed in terms of the Thankappen-True core-plus-particle model.     

The 46, 48, 50Ti(p, α) 43, 45, 47Sc reactions at 40.35 MeV

The ^{46, 48, 50}Ti(p, α) ^{43, 45, 47}Sc reactions have been studied at a proton energy of 40.35 MeV with an overall energy resolution of about 80 keV FWHM. Angular distributions for states with excitation energies up to about 7 MeV in ⁴³Sc and ⁴⁵Sc and up to 8.4 MeV in ⁴⁷Sc are presented. Both positive- and negative-parity states were observed. A microscopic form factor formalism for the three-nucleon transfer reaction was applied to extract quantitative information. Zeroth order calculations have been performed assuming the simplest possible configuration for the transferred nucleons. Subsequently, the ($\text{1}\text{f}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>7</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$ shell-model wave functions of Kutschera et al. have been used in a more detailed test, considering the components with different neutron angular momentum couplings. Reasonable agreement was obtained for most of the states considered. The effect on the calculated analyzing power of including different configurations for the $\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ g.s. transition in ⁴⁷Sc was found to be small.     

Single-particle and core-excited states in 49Sc: (II). The 48Ca(α, t)49Sc reaction

The ⁴⁸Ca(α, t)⁴⁹Sc reaction has been studied at 36 MeV incident energy. About eighty levels have been observed up to 7.5 MeV excitation energy and angular distributions were measured from 6° to 58°, using a split-pole spectrometer. A local zero-range DWBA analysis has been carried out, and the deduced l-assignments and spectroscopic factors are compared with those obtained from the (³He, d) reaction. In the other hand, a large number of angular distributions cannot be reproduced by the DWBA calculations; they have been compared with the results of coupled-reaction-channel calculations, assuming two-step excitation of weak coupling states with a [${}^{48}\text{Ca}{}^1\text{?}\text{f}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>7</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$] structure. Good agreement between experimental angular distributions and two-step predictions is obtained for several ⁴⁹Sc levels, suggesting spin and parity assignments. Moreover, as rather large cross sections are predicted for two-step excitations, it is concluded that, generally, these processes cannot be neglected in the analysis of (α, t) reactions.     

The 42Ca(α, γ)46Ti and 42Ca(α, p)45Sc cross sections and the mass-45 bottleneck

The yield of γ-rays from the reaction ⁴²Ca(α, γ)⁴⁶Ti has been measured as a function of bombarding energy over the range E_α = 3.42–5.62 MeV and from ⁴²Ca(α, pγ)⁴⁵Sc over the range E_α = 4.06–5.92 MeV, and the yield of protons from the reaction ⁴²Ca(α, p)⁴⁵Sc has been measured over the range E_α = 4.78–5.92 MeV. Cross sections for all three reactions have been extracted from the data and compared with global statistical-model calculations. The agreement is good. Thermonuclear reaction rates under stellar conditions appropriate for silicon burning are calculated and their significance for the approach to and bridging of the mass-45 bottleneck in the upward flow of nucleosynthesis is discussed.     

The 48Ca(3He,t)48Sc reaction at 66 and 70 MeV: Reaction mechanism and Gamow-Teller strength

The ⁴⁸Ca(³He, t)⁴⁸Sc reaction has been studied at E_3He = 66 MeV and 70 MeV. Angular distributions are given from θ = 8° to 35°. The 0⁺–7⁺ multiplet in ⁴⁸Sc is strongly excited at these energies and the spectra are further characterized by some broad structures on a continuous background. Broad peaks at E_ex = 7.8, 10.6 and 13.3 MeV have an angular distribution similar to the low-lying 1⁺ state. The broad peaks are interpreted as envelopes of groups of 1⁺ states carrying a significant part of the Gamow-Teller strength. The strength distribution is consistent with a shell-model calculation. The reaction mechanism has been examined at 66 MeV. The cross section is calculated for the 0⁺–7⁺ multiplet in ⁴⁸Sc as a coherent sum of one-step and two-step processes. The two-step contribution is calculated in a full finite-range 2nd-order DWBA. The result is similar contributions from (³He, α, t) and (³He, d, t). The calculations account reasonably well for the data with the exception of the transition to 0⁺, IAS.     

Low-energy proton reactions on 45Sc of interest in stellar nucleosynthesis

Differential cross sections on ⁴⁵Sc have been measured for inelastic scattering (p, p_i; i = 2–13) at lab angles of 70° and 110° in the proton energy range 2.5 to 3.5 MeV and for the (p, α_{0, 1}) reactions at 125° between 2.8 and 3.8 MeV. Angular distributions were obtained at incident energies of 2.90, 3.15 and 3.40 MeV. These data were compared with calculations performed with a Hauser-Feshbach statistical model and average parameters which have been used to calculate reaction rates during stellar nucleosynthesis. The general agreement between the calculations and the trend of the data supports the use of these calculations for reaction rates involving nuclei in excited states, a situation important during stellar silicon burning.     

Compound nucleus contribution and even-odd effect for (3He,p) reactions in the Ni region

The compound nucleus contributions to the proton spectra from 8 MeV and 10 MeV ³He induced (³He, p) reactions on even-A Ni isotopes were obtained. The relative cross sections for ⁵⁸Ni/⁶⁰Ni/⁶²Ni in the high excitation region are in fair agreement with predictions of statistical theory, but the absolute cross sections in the same region are smaller than the prediction by a factor of 3 to 8, and the shapes of the measured spectra for heavier isotopes do not agree with the prediction. These discrepancies between experiment and theory are in sharp contrast to the situation in (p, p′), (p, α), (α, p) and (α, α′), where good agreement was found.The proton spectra from (³He, p) reactions on nuclei in the A = 54–68 mass range have a systematic difference in slope between even-A targets and odd-A targets; it is similar to the systematic difference found previously in (p, p′) and (α, p) reactions, but none of these is readily explainable by theory.     

Investigating the nuclear fusion and nucleon transfer channels in the 197Au + 6He reaction at 6He energies up to 20 MeV/A

New data on the cross sections of reactions that proceed during the interaction of ⁶He and ¹⁹⁷Au nuclei in the ⁶He energy range of 40 to 120 MeV are reported. The experiments were performed using the secondary beam of the ACCULINNA separator at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (FLNR), JINR. Reaction products are identified by means of activation method to measure the gamma activity of a thin-foil target assembly. Excitation functions for ⁶He fusion reactions with subsequent emission of up to 10 neutrons from the compound nucleus are measured. Cross sections for reactions with emission of charged particles and nucleon transfer were also measured. The experimental cross sections for the (⁶He, xn) reactions that proceed via the formation of a compound nucleus agree in general with calculations using models that involve the statistical approach. It is shown that the complete fusion reaction cross section drops slightly up to an energy of 114 MeV. The experimental excitation functions for the reactions resulting in the formation of mercury and gold isotopes indicate that the main contribution to their formation comes from direct processes, while the evaporation reactions (⁶He, pxn) and (⁶He, αxn) are of minor importance.