Interference maxima in the backward excitation curve of α-particle elastic scattering on medium-weight nuclei

Excitation functions for the elastic scattering of α-particles from Ni, Co and Cu at θ_lab = 179° were measured in the lab energy range 22.75–28.40 MeV, as well as some angular distributions for Co(α, α). Broad maxima with a width of about 2.5 MeV were found in the excitation functions. It is shown that a simple four-parameter optical model of the interaction is able to reproduce the angular distributions as well as the excitation functions. Examination of the Argand diagrams leads to the conclusion that the maxima in the excitation curves are formed as a result of a coherent superposition of a number of partial waves, none of which behaves in itself in a resonance-like manner.