Observation of incomplete fusion at low angular momenta

Present work deals with experimental studies of incomplete fusion reaction dynamics using off-line γ-ray spectrometry at energies as low as ≈3-6 MeV/nucleon. Excitation functions for five reaction products populated via complete and/or incomplete fusion processes in 16O+130Te system have been measured and compared with the predictions of the statistical model code PACE4. A significant enhancement in the measured excitation functions compared to theoretical predictions for α-emitting channels has been observed and is attributed to incomplete fusion processes. The relative strength of incomplete fusion has been found to increase with projectile energy. Results show that incomplete fusion is associated even for angular momenta lesser than the critical angular momentum for complete fusion and also reveals importance of incomplete fusion even at energies as low as ≈3-6 MeV/nucleon