Experimental techniques in heavy ion fusion .1. Gamma-ray techniques

The details of the gamma-ray technique for measuring heavy-ion fusion cross sections are described through the analysis of a particular experiment involving the Si-28 + Si-28 system. All steps, going from the experimental procedure and the spectra identification to the evaluation of cross sections, are thoroughly discussed. The absolute normalization method used here is shown to give accurate results in spite of the unavoidable charge collection errors, which approximately cancel in the method. Excitation functions for thirteen evaporation channels are presented, five of which had not been published before.