Direct transfer and two-step processes in the 42Ca(α, 3He)43Ca reaction

The ⁴²Ca(α, ³He)⁴³Ca reaction has been studied at 36 MeV incident energy. Angular distributions have been measured from 4° to 42° using a split-pole spectrometer and position sensitive Si detectors, for about 40 levels located up to 6 MeV excitation energy. A local zero-range DWBA analysis has been carried out; l = 3 and 4 assignments are tentatively proposed for levels located above 4 MeV excitation energy, indicating a strong fragmentation of the $\text{1}\text{f}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>5</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ strength between 4 and 6 MeV and the location of the main component of the $\text{1}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>9</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ strength above 6 MeV. A number of weakly excited levels cannot be reproduced by DWBA analysis. Their angular distributions have been compared with the results of coupled-reaction-channel calculations assuming two-step excitation of weak coupling states with a ⁴²Ca¹ ? $\text{f}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>7</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ structure. A reasonable agreement has been obtained, confirming that the two-step process cannot be neglected in the analysis of the (α, ³he) reaction.