(HE-3, N) REACTION ON N=82 TARGETS AND EVEN ISOTOPES OF NEODYMIUM

Angular distributions of neutrons from the (3He, n) reaction were measured at 25.4 MeV over the angular range 0°-22° for the N = 82 targets 136Xe, 138Ba, 139La, 142Nd and 144Sm. In addition, measurements were carried out for the targets 144, 146, 148, 150Nd spanning the transition from spherical to permanently deformed ground states. For each even A, N = 82 target, transitions to excited states were observed with considerable L = 0 and L = 2 strength. Weak transitions to excited states were observed for the 144Nd and 139La targets. Only the ground state transition was observed for the other targets. A careful search was made for the 0+ vibrational states excited in the (t, p) reaction at 0.747 MeV in 150Sm and 0.686 MeV in 152Sm, but these were not populated with measurable strength in the (3He, n) reaction. The Q-value for the 144Sm(3He, n)146Gd(g.s.) reaction was measured to be 0.977±0.030 MeV, yielding a ground state mass of 145.91832±0.00003 amu for 146Gd. © 1979.