Measurement and interpretation of heavy ion fusion excitation functions

Abstract

Fusion excitation functions for 32S induced reactions on 24Mg, 27Al, 40Ca and 58Ni are reported at incident 32S ion energies of 65 to 132.5 MeV. Measurements were made using counter-telescopes with beams from Van de Graaff accelerators. From these data barrier heights and radii for fusion are extracted. These results are interpreted in terms of the nuclear diftuseness, and the nuclear attractive potentials at the fusion radii are deduced. Relative density overlaps at the fusion radius are estimated from electron scattering density distributions. Several parameterizations for the fusion radii and barrier heights are presented. Fusion cross sections are compared with reaction cross sections based on elastic scattering measurements coupled with optical model analysis. It is found that for the systems investigated, 90±10 % of the reaction cross section results in fusion.