Ratio of the Formation Cross Sections ofSc44gandSc44min Nitrogen-Induced Reactions

Abstract

Thick targets of P, ZnS, and Cu${\mathrm{Cl}}_2$ were bombarded with 30- to 42-MeV ${}_{}{}^{14}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{N}$ ions, and excitation functions were obtained for the compound-nucleus reactions with ${}_{}{}^{31}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{P}$, ${}_{}{}^{32}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{S}$, and ${}_{}{}^{35}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Cl}$ producing ${}_{}{}^{44m}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Sc}$, ${}_{}{}^{44g}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Sc}$, and ${}_{}{}^{43}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Sc}$. The reaction products were identified by means of their characteristic gamma rays and half-lives, and quantitatively studied by radioactive assay. The data were combined with some previously obtained at ${}_{}{}^{14}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{N}$ energies below 28 MeV. The isomer ratio $\frac{{}_{}{}^{44m}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Sc}}{{}_{}{}^{44g}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Sc}}$ was found to rise with increasing excitation energy and angular momentum for all three targets. The ratios were compared with compound-nucleus theory as treated by Huizenga and Vandenbosch to test assumptions concerning the multipolarity and multiplicity of the gamma quanta emitted by the final nucleus.