Role ofp-induced population of medium-mass(A∼150)neutron-rich nuclei

Abstract

Excitation functions were measured by stacked-foil activation technique for the 150 Nd(p, xpyn) reaction using 97.65% enriched 150 Nd target. Measurement up to ∼50% above barrier and down to 18% below the barrier was performed using proton beam energy (Ep) of 7 -15 MeV from VECC Cyclotron. The yield of suitable γ rays emitted following the decay of relevant evaporation residues was determined using a 50% High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector.(p,n) cross section was found to follow the expected trend with a maximum value of 63.7(4.9)mb at Ep ∼ 8.6 MeV. (p,2n) cross section gradually increased with Ep and had maximum contribution to the total reaction cross section after Ep ∼ 9.0 MeV. (p, p ′ n) reaction channel also showed a reasonable yield with a threshold of Ep ∼ 12.0 MeV. The experimental data were corroborated with statistical model calculations using different codes, viz., CASCADE, ALICE/91 and EMPIRE3.1. All the calculations using a suitable set of global parameters could reproduce the excitation function fairly well in the present energy range.