The possible occurence of highly deformed configurations in the 40Ca
di-nuclear system formed in the 28Si + 12C reaction is investigated
by analyzing the spectra of emitted light charged particles. Both inclusive and
exclusive measurements of the heavy fragments (A ≥ 10) and their
associated light charged particles (protons and α particles) have been
made at the IReS Strasbourg {\sc VIVITRON} Tandem facility at bombarding
energies of Elab​ (28Si) = 112 MeV and 180 MeV by using the {\sc
ICARE} charged particle multidetector array. The energy spectra, velocity
distributions, in-plane and out-of-plane angular correlations of light charged
particles are compared to statistical-model calculations using a consistent set
of parameters with spin-dependent level densities. This spin dependence
approach suggests the onset of large nuclear deformation in 40Ca at high
spin. This conclusion might be connected with the recent observation of
superdeformed bands in the 40Ca nucleus. The analysis of α
particles in coincidence with 32S fragments suggests a surprisingly strong
8Be cluster emission of a binary nature.Comment: 39 pages 15 figure