Unveiling the intruder deformed 02+^+_2 state in 34^{34}Si

The 0$^+_2$ state in $^{34}$Si has been populated at the {\sc Ganil/Lise3} facility through the $\beta$-decay of a newly discovered 1$^+$ isomer in $^{34}$Al of 26(1) ms half-life. The simultaneous detection of $e^+e^-$ pairs allowed the determination of the excitation energy E(0$^+_2$)=2719(3) keV and the half-life T$_{1/2}$=19.4(7) ns, from which an electric monopole strength of $\rho^2$(E0)=13.0(0.9)$\times10^{-3}$ was deduced. The 2$^+_1$ state is observed to decay both to the 0$^+_1$ ground state and to the newly observed 0$^+_2$ state (via a 607(2) keV transition) with a ratio R(2$^+_1$$\rightarrow0^+_1/2^+_1$$\rightarrow0^+_2$)=1380(717). Gathering all information, a weak mixing with the 0$^+_1$ and a large deformation parameter of $\beta$=0.29(4) are found for the 0$^+_2$ state, in good agreement with shell model calculations using a new {\sc sdpf-u-mix} interaction allowing \textit{np-nh} excitations across the N=20 shell gap.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Reaction mechanisms in 24Mg+12C and 32S+24Mg

The occurence of "exotic" shapes in light N=Z alpha-like nuclei is investigated for 24Mg+12C and 32S+24Mg. Various approaches of superdeformed and hyperdeformed bands associated with quasimolecular resonant structures with low spin are presented. For both reactions, exclusive data were collected with the Binary Reaction Spectrometer in coincidence with EUROBALL IV installed at the VIVITRON Tandem facility of Strasbourg. Specific structures with large deformation were selectively populated in binary reactions and their associated $\gamma$-decays studied. The analysis of the binary and ternary reaction channels is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Paper presented at the Fusion08 International Conference on New Aspects of Heavy Ion Collisions Near the Coulomb Barrier, Chicago. Proceedings to be published by AIP Conference Proceedings Illinois, USA, September 22-26, 200

Binary reaction decays from 24Mg+12C

Charged particle and gamma decays in 24Mg* are investigated for excitation energies where quasimolecular resonances appear in 12C+12C collisions. Various theoretical predictions for the occurence of superdeformed and hyperdeformed bands associated with resonance structures with low spin are discussed within the measured 24Mg* excitation energy region. The inverse kinematics reaction 24Mg+12C is studied at E_lab(24Mg) = 130 MeV, an energy which enables the population of 24Mg states decaying into 12C+12C resonant break-up states. Exclusive data were collected with the Binary Reaction Spectrometer in coincidence with EUROBALL IV installed at the VIVITRON Tandem facility at Strasbourg. Specific structures with large deformation were selectively populated in binary reactions and their associated gamma decays studied. Coincident events associated with inelastic and alpha-transfer channels have been selected by choosing the excitation energy or the entry point via the two-body Q-values. The analysis of the binary reaction channels is presented with a particular emphasis on 24Mg-gamma, 20Ne-gamma and 16O-gamma coincidences. New information (spin and branching ratios) is deduced on high-energy states in 24Mg and 16O, respectively.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl

Clusters in Light Nuclei

A great deal of research work has been undertaken in the alpha-clustering study since the pioneering discovery, half a century ago, of 12C+12C molecular resonances. Our knowledge of the field of the physics of nuclear molecules has increased considerably and nuclear clustering remains one of the most fruitful domains of nuclear physics, facing some of the greatest challenges and opportunities in the years ahead. In this work, the occurence of "exotic" shapes in light N=Z alpha-like nuclei is investigated. Various approaches of superdeformed and hyperdeformed bands associated with quasimolecular resonant structures are presented. Results on clustering aspects are also discussed for light neutron-rich Oxygen isotopes.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Invited Talk presented by C. Beck at the Zakopane Conference on Nuclear Physics "Extremes of the Nuclear Landscape" XLV in the series of Zakopane Schools of Physics - International Symposium - Zakopane, Poland, August 30 - September 5, 2010.To be publihed in Acta Physica Polonica B42 no 3, March 201

Insights into Nuclear Clusters in 28^{28}Si via Resonant Radiative Capture Measurements

International audienceThe heavyion radiative capture reaction 12C(16O,$\gamma$)28Si has been studied at three energies on( ELab = 20.0 and 21.2 MeV) and off( ELab = 20.7 MeV) resonance at Triumf (Vancouver) using the stateoftheart Dragon 0° spectrometer and its very efficient associated BGO $\gamma$ array. Intermediate states around Ex = 11.5 MeV, carrying a large part of the resonant flux have been observed for the first time in this system. The nature of those doorway states is discussed in terms of recently calculated cluster bands in 28Si. The results are compared to a recent similar investigation of the 12C(12C,$\gamma$)24Mg reaction

12^{12}C+16^{16}O sub-barrier radiative capture cross-section measurements

We have performed a heavy ion radiative capture reaction between two light heavy ions, $^{12}$C and $^{16}$O, leading to $^{28}$Si. The present experiment has been performed below Coulomb barrier energies in order to reduce the phase space and to try to shed light on structural effects. Obtained $\gamma$-spectra display a previously unobserved strong feeding of intermediate states around 11 MeV at these energies. This new decay branch is not fully reproduced by statistical nor semi-statistical decay scenarii and may imply structural effects. Radiative capture cross-sections are extracted from the data.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures, to appear as proceedings of FUSION 2011 conference at St-Malo, Franc

Decay Modes of Narrow Molecular Resonances

présenté par Sandrine Courtin (DRS-IPHC)The heavy-ion radiative capture reactions $^{12}C(^{12}C,\gamma)^{24}Mg$ and $^{12}C(^{16}O,\gamma)^{28}Si$ have been performed on and off resonance at TRIUMF using the Dragon separator and its associated BGO array. The decay of the studied narrow resonances has been shown to proceed predominantly through quasi-bound doorway states which cluster and deformed configurations would have a large overlap with the entry resonance states

How does fusion hindrance show up in medium-light systems? The case of 48Ca + 48Ca

The fusion excitation function of 48Ca + 48Ca has been measured above and well below the Coulomb barrier, thereby largely extending the energy range of a previous experiment down to very low cross sections. This system has a negative Q-value for compound nucleus formation. The fusion cross section decreases steadily below the barrier with no conspicuous change of slope below 300 μb. Coupled-channels calculations using a Woods–Saxon potential indicate that a large diffuseness parameter is needed to reproduce the sub-barrier cross sections. A close analogy with the case of 36S + 48Ca, with Q>0, is pointed out. The sign of the Q-value does not influence fusion cross sections down to the 300–600 nb leve

12C nuclear reaction measurements for hadrontherapy

International audienceHadrontherapy treatments require a very high precision on the dose deposition ( 2.5% and 1-2mm) in order to keep the benefits of the precise ions' ballistic. The largest uncertainty on the physical dose deposition is due to ion fragmentation. Up to now, the simulation codes are not able to reproduce the fragmentation process with the required precision. To constraint the nuclear models and complete fragmentation cross sections databases; our collaboration has performed an experiment on May 2008 at GANIL with a 95 MeV/u 12C beam. We have measured the fluence, energy and angular distributions of charged fragments and neutrons coming from nuclear reactions of incident 12C on thick water-like PMMA targets. Preliminary comparisons between GEANT4 (G4BinaryLightIonReaction) simulations and experimental data show huge discrepancies