Angular Distribution of Protons and Tritons from the ReactionsBe9(d, p)Be10andBe9(d, t)Be8at Low Bombarding Energies

Abstract

The angular distributions of protons and tritons from the nuclear reactions ${\mathrm{Be}}^{9}(d, p){\mathrm{Be}}^{10}$ and ${\mathrm{Be}}^{9}(d, t){\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$ were measured for incident deuteron energies of 100 kev, 170 kev, and 200 kev. A nuclear plate camera was used in which the relative cross sections for protons and tritons could be measured at 36 different angles between 15\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and 165\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. The angular distributions of protons exhibit a minimum yield in the forward direction which increases to a maximum in the backward direction. The angular distributions of tritons also show a minimum cross section in the forward direction, but the maximum occurs between 120\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and 150\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and is quite broad. The maximum in the trition cross section increases in value relative to the cross section at 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and moves toward the backward direction as the incident deuteron energy is decreased. This makes the angular distributions of protons and tritons much more alike in the case of 100-kev incident deuteron energy than for the 200-kev case. The angular distributions were analyzed in terms of the first three Legendre polynomials. Their possible relation to compound nucleus formation is discussed. The total cross section for the ${\mathrm{Be}}^{9}(d, p){\mathrm{Be}}^{10}$ reaction was found to be 4.9\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2, 16.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}4, and 37.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10 \ensuremath{\mu}b for the incident deuteron energies of 100, 170, and 200 kev, respectively. The ratio of the total cross section for tritons to the total cross section for protons was found to be 1.11, 0.97, and 0.91 for deuteron energies of 100, 170, and 200 kev, respectively.