Deconstructing the emission order of protons, neutrons and $\alpha$-particles following fusion in $^{28,30,32}$Si + $^{28}$Si

TL;DR

This study measures proton and alpha-particle emissions from silicon fusion reactions, comparing experimental data with statistical decay models to understand the de-excitation process and emission order.

Contribution

It provides detailed experimental data on light-charged particle emissions in silicon fusion, and analyzes the influence of emission sequence on decay characteristics.

Findings

Experimental proton and alpha spectra match statistical model predictions.

Emission order affects average energy and multiplicity of emitted particles.

De-excitation cascade details depend on neutron-excess in the compound nucleus.

Abstract

A high-quality measurement of proton and $\alpha$-particle emission associated with fusion of $^{28,30,32}$Si with a $^{28}$Si target is described. Evaporation residues produced by de-excitation of the compound nucleus were identified by an energy time-of-flight (ETOF) measurement while emitted light-charged particles were identified using the $\Delta$E-E technique. Comparison of the experimentally measured charged particle multiplicities and energy spectra with the predictions of the statistical decay model code, GEMINI++, allows one to deduce interesting details of the de-excitation cascade and its dependence on neutron-excess. The impact of modifying the sequence of particle emissions on the average energy and multiplicity is examined.