Systematic study of incomplete fusion reactions: Role of various entrance channel parameters

Abstract

The evaporation residues, populated through complete and incomplete fusion processes in the reaction of ¹⁸O+ ¹⁶⁵Ho, have been analyzed via excitation function measurements at projectile energies ≈ 4-7 MeV/nucleon. The cross-sections measured experimentally have been compared with the predictions of the compound nucleus model code PACE-4 calculations which only considers complete fusion (CF) reaction cross-sections. The experimental cross-section of the reaction residues populated through xn and pxn channels matches well with the theoretical model code PACE-4 predictions. On the other hand, α-emitting channels show an enhancement in the measured cross-section over PACE-4 calculations which reveals the occurrence of incomplete fusion (ICF) at the studied energy range. The relative percentage of incomplete fusion has been calculated from the experimental data and its dependence on various entrance channel parameters like projectile energy, mass-asymmetry, α-Q value and Coulomb factor (Z_PZ_T) has been studied. The strength of incomplete fusion function obtained in the ¹⁸O+ ¹⁶⁵Ho interaction has been compared with the previously studied systems. Results of the present study indicate that ¹⁸O (two neutron excess) projectile shows more incomplete fusion contribution as compared to ¹²C,¹³C and ¹⁶O projectiles due to its relatively small negative α-Q value.