Compound-Nucleus Decay via the Emission of Heavy Nuclei

Abstract

The production of $^{4}\mathrm{He}$, Li, $^{7}\mathrm{Be}$, $^{9}\mathrm{Be}$, B, C, N, O, and F has been studied in the reaction 90-MeV $^{3}\mathrm{He}$+$^{\mathrm{nat}}\mathrm{Ag}$. Although the yields of the heavier elements are orders of magnitude less than for $^{4}\mathrm{He}$, the energy spectra, charge, and angular distributions indicate that an equilibrium statistical process is responsible for the production of these heavy nuclei in the backward hemisphere.