The 6Li(α, 2α)2H reaction at 700 MeV and the α-d momentum distribution

The results of an experimental study of the reaction ⁶Li(α, 2α)²H at 700 MeV are given. A comparison with the data from seven other reactions pertaining to the α⁺d cluster structure of ⁶Li is presented. The amplitude for the virtual transition ⁶Li→α+d obtained three of these experiments and the present one are comparable. The internal momentum distributions extracted with the plane-wave impulse approximation in four of the experiments are compatible with a pole form, the width parameter being given by the α-separation energy in ⁶Li. The remarkable consistency among these results is seen as evidence for the validity of the simple models used for both the reaction mechanism (PWIA) and to describe the α d-vertex (pole approximation) in ⁶Li.