Abstract
M.Phil. (Chemistry)
This project concerns the study of , specifically, the incomplete
fusion mechanism. The nuclear reaction 7Li + 176Yb at 50 MeV was therefore carried
out using the AFRODITE and DIAMANT facility of iThemba LABS.
A 7Li nuclide is considered suitable for the breakup fusion (incomplete fusion) reaction
because of its well developed cluster structure of an -particle and triton which are weakly
bound in this nucleus. One of the breakup fragments may be captured by the target while
the other escapes at the beam velocity. Light charged-particles (alpha, tritons, deuterons
and protons) were detected with the DIAMANT (CsI) array in co-incidence with gammarays
detected by the AFRODITE (HPGe) spectrometer. The light particle detection in
co-incidence with gamma detection was an important innovation that allowed exclusivity
in the reconstruction of the mechanism by which specific residues were produced.
Off-line data processing was used to produce charged-particle-gated gamma-gamma coincidence
matrices which were analysed with the RADWARE software package. The level
scheme exclusive to a particular channel for the production of the 178Hf was extracted. The
relative cross-section for the various reaction channels could also therefore be extracted.
In particular, the intensity ratios of gamma transitions as function of spin for proton
to triton-gated matrices populating the 178Hf isotope were extracted. Insights could be
developed into the incomplete fusion reaction mechanisms initiated by the breakup of the
incident 7Li projectile.