Decay of 241Pu* formed in 9Be+232Th around the Coulomb barrier using static and dynamic deformations

The decay of the hot and rotating compound nucleus Pu-241* formed in the reaction Be-9 + Th-232 around the Coulomb barrier (approximate to 42.16 MeV), at energies ranging from 37 to 48 MeV, is studied using the dynamical cluster-decay model (DCM) with the effects of static and dynamic deformations included. With the inclusion of dynamical deformations both the preformation probability P-0 and the tunneling probability P, and hence the cross sections, change considerably. The only parameter of the model, namely, the neck-length parameter, varies smoothly with excitation energy or temperature of the system both at above- and below-barrier energies, whose value depends strongly on the limiting angular momentum, which in turn depends on the sticking and nonsticking moments of inertia. The relative effect of static and dynamic deformations on the neck-length parameter Delta R is also studied which indicates the reaction time scale for both static and dynamic choices of deformation. In addition, the exclusive role of angular momentum and barrier modification effects at sub-barrier energies are also addressed. Although calculated anisotropies are consistent with the results of Appannababu et al. [Phys. Rev. C 83, 067601 (2011)], no significant contribution of a noncompound nucleus in the form of incomplete fusion is seen on the basis of DCM calculations.