Fusion of light exotic nuclei at near-barrier energies: Effect of inelastic excitation

The effect of inelastic excitation of exotic light projectiles (proton-as well as neutron-rich)17F and11Be on fusion with heavy target has been studied at near-barrier energies. The calculations have been performed in the coupled channels approach where, in addition to the normal coupling of the ground state of the projectile to the continuum, inelastic excitation of the projectile to the bound excited state and its coupling to the continuum have also been taken into consideration. The inclusion of these additional couplings has been found to have significant effect on the fusion excitation function of neutron-rich11Be on208Pb whereas the effect has been observed to be nominal for the case of proton-rich17F on the same target. The pronounced effect of the channel coupling on the fusion process in the case of11Be is attributed to its well-developed halo structure.