Experimental study of the 2n-transfer reaction ¹³⁸Ba(¹⁸O,¹⁶O)¹⁴⁰Ba in the projectile energy range 61–67 MeV

¹ Department of Physics, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens - Zografou Campus, GR-15784, Athens, Greece
² Università degli Studi di Milano and INFN sez. Milano - Milano, Italy
³ National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering - Magurele, Romania

^(a) achalil@phys.uoa.gr

Received: 13 December 2019
Accepted: 21 December 2019

Abstract

Two-neutron transfer reactions serve as an important tool for nuclear-structure studies in the neutron-rich part of the nuclear chart. In this paper, we report on the first experimental attempt to populate the excited states of¹⁴⁰Ba employing the 2n-transfer reaction¹³⁸Ba(¹⁸O,¹⁶O)¹⁴⁰Ba. ¹⁴⁰Ba is highly important, as it is placed on the onset of octupole correlations and the lifetimes of its excited states are completely unknown, with the sole exception of the first state. The experiment was carried out at the Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN–HH) in Magurele, Romania. Lower limits on the lifetimes of the ground state band up to the state are reported. Furthermore, relative cross-sections regarding the 2n-transfer reaction with respect to the fusion and the total inelastic reaction channels have been deduced. Further investigation directions of the nuclear structure of ¹⁴⁰Ba are also discussed.