Role of Neutron Transfers in Initiating Near-barrier Fusion of Heavy-ions

The effect of neutron transfers on near-and sub-Coulomb-barrier fusion of heavy-ions is still a complicated and controversial problem. This paper reviews the recent experimental results of the fusion excitation functions of several typical systems, which have been measured by using an electrostatic deflector setup at the HI-13 tandem accelerator of CIAE. Both the neutron pickup and stripping effects were studied. Moreover, a self-consistent method to reliably isolate the transfer effect quantitatively based on the coupledchannels calculation is proposed. These studies give a further support for the neutron transfer effect on sub-barrier fusion of heavy-ions and its complexity. Further experimental and theoretical studies are needed for clarifying the relevant reaction mechanisms.