Measurement of ¹H(¹⁷F,α)¹⁴O Reaction Cross Section

The ¹⁴O(α, p)¹⁷F reaction is one of the important breakout reactions in type I X-ray burst. This work reported a new cross section measurement of its reverse reaction of ¹H(¹⁷F,α)¹⁴O. The experiment was performed using the CNS radioactive ion beam separator (CRIB), located at the Center for Nuclear Study (CNS), the University of Tokyo. The sequent background measurement was carried out at Radioactive Beam Line in Lanzhou (RIBLL1). ¹⁷F beam was produced via the transfer reaction of ²H(¹⁶O, n)¹⁷F, subsequently separated and purified by CRIB and bombarded a thick hydrogen H₂ gas target. The recoiling α particles were measured by three △E-E silicon telescopes at three different angles. The total cross sections of ¹H(¹⁷F,α)¹⁴O have been derived at E_c.m.=2.7~3.4 MeV based on an isotropic angular distribution assumption. Our results are consistent with the previous ones in the energy region of E_c.m.>3 MeV, and we also obtained some new data in the low energy region, which partly support the destructive interference between the direct and resonant reaction mechanism predicted by the theory.