Measurement of fusion excitation function for

Total fusion (TF) excitation function has been measured for the system 7Li + 64Ni at the energies near the Coulomb barrier of the system. The evaporation residue (ER) cross sections have been estimated through the online detection of characteristic γ-rays of the ERs. The summed ER cross sections yielding the experimental TF cross section have been compared with the theoretical one dimensional barrier penetration model (1DBPM) prediction. The measured and the model cross sections are very close to each other at above barrier energies. However, an enhancement of the experimental TF cross section with respect to the 1DBPM prediction is observed at below barrier energies. Coupled channels (CC) calculation with inelastic excitations alone could not explain the enhancement. The origin of the enhancement is identified as due to the enhanced population of the αxn channels