Physics Letters B 306 ( 1993) 1-5

North-Holland PHYSICS LETTERS B

Alpha-cluster bands in 4°Ca observed via the (6Li, d) reaction

T. Y a m a y a a, M . Saito a, M . F u j i w a r a b, T. I t a h a s h i b, K. K a t o r i c, T. S u e h i r o ~, S. K a t o e,
S. H a t o r i r a n d S. O h k u b o g
• Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendal 980, Japan
b Research Center for Nuclear Physics, Osaka University, Osaka 567, Japan
c Laboratory of Nuclear Studies, Faculty of Science, Osaka University, Osaka 588, Japan
a Tohoku lnsititute of Technology, Sendal 982, Japan
e Faculty of General Education, Yamagata University, Yamagata 990, Japan
f Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606, Japan
s Department of Applied Science, Kochi Women's University, Kochi 780, Japan

Received 27 January 1993; revised manuscript received 15 March 1993

Editor: R.H. Siemssen

The K~=0 - band of the parity doublet bands in 'inCa,which exhibits an alpha-cluster structure, has been observed via the (6Li,
d) reaction. As a possible candidate of the members of the band, the states from the 8.15 MeV, 1- up to the 12.65 MeV, 7- were
observed. Furthermore, the 8 + state of the K~=0 + band was observed at 10.34 MeV.

The alpha-cluster model has been successfully dominantly four-particle-four-hole ( 4 p - 4 h ) in char-

studied for nuclei lighter than mass n u m b e r A = 40
[ 1 ]. For nuclei heavier than A = 40, the molecule-like
alpha-cluster model [ 2 ] has not been considered to
be applicable because o f a strong effect o f the s p i n -
orbit force. Nevertheless, many theoretical and ex-
perimental studies have been devoted to the investi-
gation o f alpha-clustering in fp-shell nuclei. Recently,
the negative-parity K~= 0 - band in 44Ti was experi-
mentally observed [3] as a partner of the K ~ = 0 +
band in the parity doublet bands, which gives consid-
erable support to the alha-cluster model in fp-shell
nuclei. The nuclear structure o f 4°Ca and 44Ti in the
fp-shell region may be regarded as analogous to 160
and 2°Ne, respectively, which are particularly well es-
tablished examples o f light nuclei with alpha-cluster-
ing. Therefore, the observation o f parity doublet
bands with alpha-clustering in both 4°Ca and 44Ti
suggests that the alpha-cluster model persists even in
nuclei heavier than A = 40.
The magic 4°Ca nucleus has a rotational K ~ = 0 +
band starting from the mysterious 0 + state at 3.35
MeV, which is very similar to the lowest K~= 0 + band
starting from the 0 + state at 6.06 MeV in the magic
160 nucleus. These K ~ = 0 + bands are believed to be
acter [4,5]. The K ~ = 0 + band in 160 is understood
very well in the alpha-cluster model [6] as a partner
o f the K ~ = 0 - band beginning with the 1- state at
9.63 MeV in the parity doublet bands. The low-lying
4 p - 4 h states up to Ex = 7 MeV in 4°Ca have been ex-
perimentally studied in the 36Ar(6Li, d)4°Ca reac-
tion at E = 17 MeV [4,7 ]. However, theoretical cal-
culations [8,9] suggested that a negative-parity
K ~ = 0 - band with an appreciable alpha-cluster char-
acter is expected to start near the alpha-particle
threshold energy in the A = 40 mass region. In fact,
the 1 - state of the negative-parity band in 44Ti has
been ovserved at 6.22 MeV in excitation energy [ 3],
while the alpha-threshold energy in 44Ti is 5.2 MeV.
For an investigation of the K~= 0 - band in 4°Ca an
alpha-transfer reaction study o f states at energies
above the alpha-threshold therefore is important.
A 50 MeV 6Li 2+ beam was provided by the cyclo-
tron at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics
( R C N P ) o f Osaka University. A target o f 99.8% en-
riched 36Ar was enclosed in a gas cell with an en-
trance window o f a 600 g g / c m 2 Aramid film evapo-
rated onto aluminum of 100 gg/cm 2 thickness. The
gas cell pressure o f 50 mbar was continuously moni-

0370-2693/93/$ 06.00 © 1993 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved. 1
Volume 306, number 1,2 PHYSICS LETTERS B
tared to an accuracy of about 1%. The momenta of
the deuterons emitted from the reaction were ana-
lyzed with the spectrograph RAIDEN after passing
through a 2.2 Ixm Havar window. The observed over-
all energy resolution was 50-70 keV in full width at
half maximum ( F W H M ) . Details of the detection
system have been reported in a previous paper [ 3 ].
A deuteron energy sepctrum at OL = 6 ° to the excited
levels above the alpha-threshold in 4°Ca is shown in
fig. I. No contaminant peaks were found at any an-
gles, because of the pure gas target. Excitation ener-
gies except for the levels above Ex= 50 MeV in 4°Ca
were deduced from the observed peak position at the
six or seven most forward angles, using the magnet
calibration via the ]2C(6Li,d ) 160 reaction with a bu-
tane gas (C4H1o) target. For the levels up to 7 MeV
in 4°Ca the excitation energies were in agreement to
an accuracy within 30 keV with those obtained at
E = 17 MeV [4,7 ]. Angular distributions of about 70
levels up to E~= 15 MeV were obbtained. These lev-
els are labeled by their excitation energies in fig. 1. A
continuous deuteron background originating from the
breakup process 6Li-~ d + c~was taken into account in
the differential cross sections at the forward angles of
6 °, 7.5 ° and 10 °. The differential cross sections were
measured at intervals of 2.5 ° for O L = 5 °--25 o and 5 °
for OL= 25°--35 °. The errors in the differential cross
sections include those due to the background sub-
15 13
oo
t-to ,~ iT"
tO ] u- ;cob-t£
~to~
o250
Q)
>
Q)
£8 s'9 4b
Fig. 1. Deuteron energy spectrum at OL= 6 ° including excitation energies above the alpha-threshold energy in 4°Ca. The dashed line
indicates the maximum background from the 6Li breakup process. The peaks without labels correspond to the positive-parity states with
angular momentum lower than J = 8. The peaks marked by a dot are strongly excited levels whose angular distributions are not well fitted
by DWBA calculations for either N= 12 or 13 states.
2
27 May 1993
traction and the peak separation by the gaussian shape
fitting for unresolved peaks.
The distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA)
analyses were performed for the angular distribu-
tions of about 70 levels of 4°Ca, to determine the di-
rectly transferred alpha-particle angular momenta.
The calculations were done using the finite-range
DWBA code TWOFNREX [ 10 ]. The details of the
DWBA analyses have been reported in a previous pa-
per [ 3]. The alpha-cluster wave functions used for
4°Ca were theoretically calculated using the real part
of the phenomenological optical potential which de-
scribes the alpha-elastic scattering data [8,9,11 ]. The
optical model potential parameters for the deuteron
and 6Li distorted wave functions were obtained from
the analyses of elastic scatering data [ 12,13 ]. In the
present DWBA calculations the radius parameters of
both the deuteron and the 6Li real potentials are
changed from their elastic scatering values of 1.05 and
1.30 fm to 1.20 fin. The same DWBA calculations
have been done for the parity doublet bands in 44Ti
with consistency [ I 1 ]. The shapes of the angular dis-
tributions obtained from the DWBA calcluations re-
produce well the observed angular distributions for
the known levels of 4°Ca. The angular distributions
for the members of the K " = 0 + band and the nega-
tive-parity states as candidates for the members of the
K " = 0 - band are shown in fig. 2, and are compared
Excitation energy (MeV)
12 II I0 9 8
.o t,,-
?]tl ° I I" : ~. ,~o. ,-,h ".
41 42 43 44 45 46
Deuteron energy ( M e V }
Volume 306, number 1,2 PHYSICS LETTERS B 27 May 1993

103
i01 36Ar(6Li ,d)4°Ca 36Ar(6Li,d)40Ca
K=O+ band K=O- band
10 2 -,L-O
Ex-3.35 MeV Ex-B.15 MeV
I00 \ L,O +~ L.J

oI

~ I- .,r N L-4 1
t
,oV, I
I0z ' I
Ex-6.93 MeV jl"
I01" ~ ~ ~ _

,o' ÷ F-" "'

i0 ~ Ex-12.65MeV
102 L-9 Ex,lO.34MeV l L-7
L-8

i0 i
I01 ~
L-7

I i i i IOo I I I I
0 I0 20 30 410 0 I0 20 3() 40
Oc.m. Oc.m.
Fig. 2. Angular distributions for the members of the KX=0 + band and the negative-parity states. Fitted curves were obtained from the
DWBA calculations using the theoretically calculated alpha-wave functions. For the 10.34 MeV level, the DWBA curve with L = 8 is
compared with the L = 7 dashed and L = 7 dashed and L = 9 dot-dashed curves.

with the results of DWBA calculations using alpha-
particle wave functions with the principal quantum
numbers N = 12 and 13 for the Woods-Saxon poten-
tial. The angular distributions for the other observed
levels, except for the peaks marked by a dot in fig. 1
were reasonably fitted by the DWBA calculations. The
angular distributions for the dotted peaks were better
fitted by the DWBA calculations using alpha-particle
wave functions with principal quantum numbers of
N = 14, however the results of this analysis are not
final.
The 3.35 MeV 0 +, 3.90 MeV 2+, and 5.28 MeV 4 +
states in the K s = 0 + band are the well known 4p-4h
alpha-cluster states in 4°Ca [ 5,7,14 ]. For the high spin
members of the KS= 0 + band, we confirmed the 6.93
MeV level as a J ~ = 6 + state, and furtermore the
J ~ = 8 + state was found at 10.34 MeV. The 6* and
8 + states have been observed at 6.93 and 8.09 MeV,
Volume 306, number 1,2
respectively, in the 2sSi(14N,pny)4°Ca reaction
[ 15,16 ]. Although the present data for a possible
L,~ = 8 transition were examined near Ex = 8 MeV, we
could not find any evidence for a possible 8 + state.
The same result was obtained in a study of the
(6Li, d) reaction at E = 17 MeV [4,7]. The 8 + and
l0 + members of the K ~ = 0 + band have been sug-
gested by the 3 6 A r ( 1 6 0 , 12C)4°Ca work [17] to lie
near Ex = 9.9 and 12.4 MeV, respectively. These peaks
may correspond to the 8 + state at 10.34 MeV and the
7 - state at 12.6 MeV in the present work, respec-
tively. Many negative-parity states were observed at
excitation energies higher than alpha-threshold in
4°Ca. These peaks are labeled by their spin-parity in
fig. 1.
The spectroscopic factors, S,~, were extracted from
the DWBA calculations. In fig. 3 the strengths of the
Sa strength and energy levels of 4OCo
I',
J'Li i
L be interpreted as the parity doublet bands which are
0.2[ band [ 4+
8-1-
I That is, a possible alpha-like correlation in 4°Ca may
I Ii i ,
S,-,| KT.r=O-
o.2[ band
"JiI'- %-
7-
ht-illi, 1
, , ,
o 5 I0
E× (MeV)
Fig. 3. Alpha-spectroscopic factors for the members of the K ~-- 0 +
band and the negative-parity states in ~Ca. The theoretically
predicted energy levels [ 8 ] are compared with the energy posi-
tions of the observed levels. The solid lines show the results cal-
culated with the squared Woods-Saxon potential and the dashed
lines show those calculated with the spline potential [ 8 ]. The
centroid for the negative-parity states fragmented from the
K ' = 0 - band is indicated by open arrows.
PHYSICS LETTERS B 27 May 1993
spectroscopic factors for the members of the K ~ = 0 +
band and the negative-parity states at excitation
energies higher than the alpha-threshold are plotted
as bar graphs showing the 4°Ca excitation energy and
are compared with the theoretically calculated en-
ergy levels using an energy-independent squared
Woods-Saxon potential and a spline potential [8,9 ].
Assuming that all the observed negative-parity states
above the alpha-threshold energy are fragments from
the members of the K ~ = 0 - band with principal
quantum number N = 13, the centroid of the frag-
ments for each spin is denoted by the open arrows.
The theoretical energy levels are in general agree-
ment with those observed. The energy levels of the
members of the K ~ = 0 + band in 4°Ca have also been
calculated using a local potential alpha-cluster model
[ 18,19 ] and a semi-microscopic alpha-cluster model
[ 20 ]. Considering a small energy gap between the 0 +
state at 3.35 MeV and the center of gravity of the 1-
state, most of these negative-parity states are under-
stood to be fragmented from the K ~ = 0 - band as a
partner of the K~= 0 + band, and these two bands can
consistent with an alpha-cluster description of 4°Ca.
The fragmentation from the K ~ = 0 - band may be
the effect of the open shell nature of the 36Ar core.
consist of four particles distributed in a larger num-
, I
ber of shell orbits than is found for example for 44Ti
as N = 12 and 13 states. Furthermore, a higher energy
level density above the alpha-threshold in 4°Ca than
in 44Ti is observed which is probably due to similar
effects of softness of the 46Ar c o r e . One may assume
that some states modelled as an alpha-particle plus
an excited 36Ar core might appear in an energy region
above the alpha-threshold in 4°Ca. Such theoretical
calculations have been done for the states below the
excitation energy of 8.5 MeV in 4°Ca by Ogawa et al.
[20].
15
The spectroscopic factors, S,~, deduced from the
present data are 0.2-0.3 for the members of the
K ~ = 0 + band (except for 0.14 of the 8 + state), and
0.5-0.6 for the members fragmented from the K~= 0 -
band (except for 0.28 of the 7- state), where S,~-val-
ues for the negative-parity states are summed over the
fragments of each spin-state. For the K~= 0 ÷ bands,
the S,~-values in 4°Ca are about three times as large as
in44Ti [ 11 ]. It is found that the alpha-clustering of
Volume 306, number 1,2 PHYSICS LETTERS B
the p a r i t y d o u b l e t b a n d i n 4°Ca is m o r e d e v e l o p e d
t h a n that i n 44Ti.
I n c o n c l u s i o n , as a possible c a n d i d a t e , we o b s e r v e d
f r a g m e n t e d m e m b e r s o f the K ~ = 0 - b a n d with the
alpha-cluster structure at excitation energies above the
a l p h a - t h r e s h o l d i n 4°Ca via the (6Li, d ) reaction o n
36Ar. F u r t h e r m o r e , the 8 + state o f the K ~ = 0 + b a n d
was o b s e r v e d at 10.34 MeV. Thses two b a n d s f o r m
the p a r i t y d o u b l e t b a n d s with alpha-cluster structure.
We are grateful to Dr. S. O k a b e for useful discus-
sions o n the spectroscopic factors. We are also t h a n k -
ful to Professor M.B. G r e e n f i e l d for his careful read-
ing o f the m a n u s c r i p t a n d v a l u a b l e c o m m e n t s . T h i s
e x p e r i m e n t was p e r f o r m e d at R C N P u n d e r P r o g r a m
Nos. 29A04, 30A18 a n d 31A1 1.
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