Measurement of excitation functions and mean projected recoil ranges of nuclei in12C-induced reactions on vanadium

Excitation function and mean projected recoil ranges of nuclei produced in the¹²C-induced reactions on⁵¹V target were measured by conventional stacked foil and thick-target thick-recoil-catcher technique for bombarding energiesE ≤ 84 MeV for¹²C ion beam. The measured recoil ranges are converted to momentum transfer. Information on momentum transfer was used to get clues about some aspects of the interaction such as complete fusion which corresponds to full momentum transfer and incomplete fusion reaction mechanism. The measured excitation functions are compared with the calculation based on the statistical model which describes only equilibrium decay of the compound nucleus using the Cascade code and the geometry dependent hybrid model which describes equilibrium as well as pre-equilibrium decay of the compound nucleus using the Alice/91 code. The measured excitation functions and average ranges of the radioisotope products of the reactions¹²C on⁵¹V indicate that the three separate reaction mechanisms could be attributable to complete fusion of¹²C, incomplete fusion of⁸Be and incomplete fusion of⁴He respectively with the target. The⁸Be and⁴He are the break-up component of¹²C into⁸Be +⁴He. The predictions of the codes, especially the Cascade, generally agree with the measured cross-sections which could be attributed to complete fusion of¹²C with the target⁵¹V.     

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.     

Incomplete fusion reactions: Analysis of excitation functions and recoil range distributions in 16O + 51V

Incomplete fusion reactions were investigated by measuring the excitation functions of nine evaporation residues in ¹⁶O + ⁵¹V reaction in the beam energy 4-6 MeV/amu, using the well-known recoil catcher technique and gamma-ray spectrometry. The experimental data were compared with that obtained from Monte Carlo simulation calculations using the PACE2 code. The results indicate the presence of incomplete fusion process in the production of two alpha emission products. This was further confirmed by the measurement of recoil range distribution of these isotopes at 96 MeV beam energy. Calculations of the average angular momentum associated with these products revealed the peripheral nature of these ICF reactions. Received: 20 June 2001 / Accepted: 11 September 2001     

Formation and decay of the compound nucleus studied in the reaction20Ne+27Al

Energy and velocity spectra, angular and mass distributions have been measured for evaporation residue products of the^{20, 22}Ne+²⁷Al system in the energy range ofE _L (²⁰Ne)=51 to 395 MeV and in the angular rangeθ=2° and 30°. Calculations with simple assumptions of the velocity and angular distributions of the evaporation residues are presented and compared to the data. The structure seen in the mass distributions, a competition between α-particle and nucleon evaporation in the deexcitation of the compound nucleus, is described well by calculations with the computer code CASCADE. The evaporation residues exhibit mass distributions varying systematically as a function of the excitation energy. The excitation function of the evaporation residue cross section is compared with theoretical models. At higher incident energies contributions of incomplete momentum transfer (incomplete fusion) are observed. A limitation for complete compound nucleus formation with following light particle evaporation is found.     

Light charged particle decay in the reaction7Li+16O

Angular distributions and excitation functions for the emission of a large number of proton, deuteron, triton, and-particle groups in⁷Li+¹⁶O reactions have been measured in the vicinity of the Coulomb barrier. Within the framework of the statistical reaction model, two approaches are presented that can reproduce the only weakly anisotropic shape of the angular distributions and the absolute cross section for those groups of ejectiles where contributions from direct reaction modes are small. When a standard Woods-Saxon potential deduced from elastic scattering is used, the entrance channel angular momentum distribution must be limited to values below critical angular momental _cr which are smaller than the grazing angular momental _gr if fusion is to be described. A global proximity potential with a parameter set that has been adjusted to reproduce the fusion reactions of a variety of p- and sd-shell nuclei yields very similar results when applied to⁷Li+¹⁶O. The proximity potential effectively introduces a similar angular-momentum limitation. This analysis proves the existence of a fusion cross section limitation and the importance of strong direct reaction modes (transfer and possibly inelastic processes) in⁷Li+¹⁶O reactions at energies close to and even below the Coulomb barrier. Another aspect of⁷Li+¹⁶O is addressed briefly. The resonance-like structure observed in the heavy-ion radiative capture reaction⁷Li(¹⁶O, ₀₊₁)²³Na atE _x (²³Na)=25.4 MeV is not observed in the particle decay channels investigated in the present work.The authors would like to acknowledge the help received from B. Bellenberg, B. Dechant, H. Hemmert, T. Krischak, E. Kuhlmann, H. Putsch, and C. Scholz during the experiments.     

Incomplete fusion reactions in 16O+165Ho

Excitation functions for evaporation residues of the system ¹⁶O + ¹⁶⁵Ho have been measured up to 100 MeV. Recoil range distribution of long lived reaction products were measured at ¹⁶O beam energy of 100 MeV. Detailed Monte Carlo simulation of recoil range distributions of products were performed with the help of PACE2 code, in order to extract the contributions of incomplete fusion in the individual channels. The results clearly show the incomplete fusion contributions in the tantalum and thulium products. This is confirmed by the predictions of breakup fusion model of the incomplete fusion.     

Measurements and Hauser-Feshbach analysis of the10B(16O,6Li)20Ne reaction

States in²⁰Ne were populated by the¹⁰B(¹⁶O,⁶Li) reaction, and levels were observed up to 11 MeV in excitation energy. Cross sections were measured at 7° (lab) for bombarding energies from 44.4 to 46 MeV in 400 keV intervals. The reaction appears to be predominantly due to compound nucleus formation, and good agreement was found between the measured cross sections and Hauser-Feshbach calculations, assuming the known spin values of²⁰Ne.     

Angular momentum dependence of the giant dipole resonance width in excited nuclei of mass

Gamma ray spectra in the energy range of 4–25 MeV were measured in the reaction ²⁸Si + ¹²⁴Sn at E(²⁸Si) 150 MeV in coincidence with low energy γ-multiplicities. The spectra were analysed using a simulated Monte Carlo CASCADE code. The centroid energy and width of the giant dipole resonance were extracted for various multiplicity windows. The average angular momentum and temperature of the final states populated after the giant dipole photon emission range from 25 and 1.5 MeV to 56 and 1.3 MeV, respectively. The extracted widths are almost constant for the lower multiplicity windows and show an increase of 1.4 MeV at the highest window. The nuclei are expected to be near the liquid drop regime and the experimental results are not inconsistent with the liquid drop behaviour.     

Effect of entrance channel parameters on the fusion of two heavy ions: Excitation functions of reaction products in16O +66Zn and37Cl +45Sc reactions

Excitation functions of reaction products formed in¹⁶O +⁶⁶Zn and³⁷Cl +⁴⁵Sc systems, leading to the same compound nucleus,⁸²Sr, were measured using recoil-catcher technique and off-line γ-ray spectrometry. The contribution of non-compound processes like transfer and incomplete fusion (ICF) reactions to the cross-sections of different evaporation residues were delineated by comparing the experimental data with the predictions of Monte Carlo simulation code PACE2. The results show that non-compound processes become a significant fraction of the total reaction cross-section in¹⁶O +⁶⁶ systems in the beam energy range studied, while³⁷Cl +⁴⁵Sc gives mainly compound nucleus products. The mass asymmetry dependence of the fusion and non-compound cross-sections have been analysed in terms of the static fusion model and sum rule model     

12C + 7Li Reaction measurements and the 12C(7Li,t)16O reaction

A measurement of the residues from the ¹²C + ⁷Li reaction has been obtained for ⁷Li energies from 10 to 38 MeV. From these measurements the fusion cross sections and critical angular momenta for the ¹²C + ⁷Li system have been deduced. Cross sections for the ⁷Li(¹²C, t)¹⁶O reaction have been obtained for ¹²C energies from 54 to 62 MeV at θ_lab = 2.7°. The critical angular momenta obtained from the fusion cross sections have been used to perform Hauser-Feshbach calculations for the ¹²C(⁷Li, t)¹⁶O reaction. These calculations have been compared to measured angular distributions over a wide energy range. By comparing the fusion cross sections required by the Hauser-Feshbach calculations to fit the ¹²C(⁷Li, t)¹⁶O(8.87 MeV) reaction and the measured residue cross section it is estimated that at least 80 % of the measured residues are fusion products. The calculations also indicate that direct processes dominate the population of many ¹⁶O levels at forward angles and the 10.35 MeV state at backward angles. The necessity for using a critical angular momentum in Hauser-Feshbach calculations is discussed.     

Angular distributions and forward recoil range distributions of residues created in the interaction of 12C and 16O ions with 103Rh

We have measured the angular distributions and the forward recoil range distributions of residues produced in the interaction of, respectively, 151, 228 and 402 MeV ¹²C ions with ¹⁰³Rh and the forward recoil range distributions of residues produced in the interaction of 303 MeV ¹⁶O ions with ¹⁰³Rh. These data have been successfully reproduced by a theory which assumes that the dominant mechanisms are complete and incomplete fusion of the projectile with the target and single nucleon transfers from the projectile to the target and predicts that, starting from an incident energy of about 250 MeV, a large fraction of the residues has a mass and charge very close to those of the target nucleus. This is because, at incident energies of a few hundred MeV, a large fraction of the kinetic energy of ¹²C and ¹⁶O is carried away by fast ejectiles which then leave behind the intermediate equilibrated nuclei with a rather small excitation energy and small forward linear momentum.     

Probing of complete and incomplete fusion dynamics in heavy-ion collision

Three different types of experiments have been performed to explore the complete and incomplete fusion dynamics in heavy-ion collisions. In this respect, first experiment for the measurement of excitation functions of the evaporation residues produced in the ²⁰Ne + ¹⁶⁵Ho system at projectile energy ranges ≈2–8 MeV /nucleon has been done. Measured cumulative and direct cross-sections have been compared with the theoretical model code PACE-2, which takes into account only the complete fusion process. It has been observed that, incomplete fusion fraction is sensitively dependent on projectile energy and mass asymmetry between the projectile and the target systems. Second experiment for measuring the forward recoil range distributions of the evaporation residues produced in the ²⁰Ne + ¹⁶⁵Ho system at projectile energy ≈8 MeV /nucleon has been done. It has been observed that, some evaporation residues have shown additional peaks in the measured forwardrecoil range distributions at cumulative thicknesses relatively smaller than the expected range of the residues produced via complete fusion. The results indicate the occurrence of incomplete fusion involving the breakup of ²⁰Ne into ⁴He + ¹⁶O and /or ⁸Be + ¹²C followed by one of the fragments with target nucleus ¹⁶⁵Ho. Third experiment for the measurement of spin distribution of the evaporation residues produced in the ¹⁶O + ¹²⁴Sn system at projectile energy ≈6 MeV /nucleon, showed that the residues produced as incomplete fusion products associated with fast α and 2 α-emission channels observed in the forward cone, are found to be distinctly different from those of the residues produced as complete fusion products. The spin distribution of the evaporation residues also inferred that in incomplete fusion reaction channels input angular momentum (J ₀) increases with fusion incompleteness when compared to complete fusion reaction channels. Present observation clearly shows that the production of fast forward α-particles arises from relatively larger angular momentum in the entrance channel leading to peripheral collision.     

Yields of evaporation residues and average angular momentum in heavy ion induced fusion reactions leading to compound nucleus96Ru

Cross-sections for production of evaporation residues from the compound nucleus⁹⁶Ru* formed by fusion reactions²⁸Si+⁶⁸Zn,³²S+⁶⁴Ni,³⁷Cl+⁵⁹Co and⁴⁵Sc+⁵¹V have been obtained from the yields of their characteristicγ-rays. The measurements span an excitation energy range of 55 MeV to 70 MeV of the compound nucleus. The evaporation residue (ER) cross-sections have been analysed in terms of statistical model for the decay of the compound nucleus. A good agreement is found between statistical model calculation and the experimental evaporation residue cross-sections in all the four cases. It is shown that the average angular momentum of the compound nucleus can be deduced from a comparison of the experimentally measured and the statistical model predictions for the ER cross-sections. The validity of this method of deriving has been discussed for the case of¹⁶O+¹⁵⁴Sm system.     

The influence of the spectroscopic deformation of Li-isotopes on their interaction with51V

The energy dependence of the total reaction cross sectionσ ^r and its tensor analyzing powerT ₂₀ ^r was measured for the⁷Li?⁵¹V interaction in the energy rangeE _Li=10–20 MeV using two different experimental methods. Reaction residues were observed directly by their characteristicγ-emission, and the elastic scattering of⁷Li from⁵¹V was investigated. Additionally, the elastic scattering of⁶Li from⁵¹V was measured at 9.8, 12 and 14 MeV. The tensor analyzing power data can be interpreted as being caused by the spectroscopic mass deformation of the Li-ions. The energy dependence of σr andT ₂₀ ^r above the Coulomb barrier can be described in terms of the classical sharp-cutoff model.     

Thermonuclear reaction rates from (p,n) reactions

Thermonuclear reaction rates for the temperature range 1≤T ₉≤5 have been extracted from experimentally measured (p, n) cross sections for⁴⁵Sc⁵⁰Ti,⁵¹V,⁵⁴Cr,⁵⁵Mn and⁵⁹Co nuclides below 5 MeV bombarding energy. These reaction rates are important in the build-up of medium and heavy nuclides in the stellar evolution process and nucleosynthesis. To enhance the usefulness of these reaction rates in astrophysical calculations, they have been fitted to an analytic function of temperature, valid throughout the temperature range considered here.     

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.     

First direct measurement of the total cross-section of 12C(α,γ)16O

The total cross-section of ¹²C(α,γ)¹⁶O was measured for the first time by a direct and ungated detection of the ¹⁶O recoils. This measurement in inverse kinematics using the recoil mass separator ERNA in combination with a windowless He gas target allowed to collect data with high precision in the energy range E = 1.9 to 4.9 MeV. The data represent new information for the determination of the astrophysical S(E) factor.