Investigation into the structure of 14C using recoil co-incidence techniques

Abstract

A number of high-lying excited states in 14C, above the α-decay threshold, are believed to exhibit molecular-like configurations of three α-particles and two valence neutrons. The nature of these states can be determined by the measurement of their spins, parities and partial decay widths. An experiment using the 12C(16O,14O)14C reaction was performed recently at the ISL facility at the Hahn-Meitner-Institut, Berlin. The 14O ejectile was detected using a Q3D spectrometer at small forward angles. The recoil's decay products were detected in co-incidence using two double-sided silicon strip detectors at backward angles. This technique allows the possibility of a full kinematic reconstruction of the reaction, as well as enhanced background suppression. Analysis of the data is currently underway and the latest results are shown here.