Measurement of alpha-induced reaction cross sections on erbium isotopes for γ process studies

The cross sections of the 162Er(α,γ)166Yb and 162,164,166Er(α,n)165,167,169Yb reactions have been measured at MTA Atomki. The radiative alpha capture reaction cross section was measured between Ec.m. = 11.21 MeV and Ec.m. = 16.09 MeV just above the astrophysically relevant energy region (which lies between 7.8 and 11.48 MeV at T9 = 3 GK). The 162Er(α,n)165Yb, 164Er(α,n)167Yb and 166Er(α,n)169Yb reactions were studied between Ec.m. = 12.19 and 16.09 MeV, Ec.m. = 13.17 and 16.59 MeV and Ec.m. = 12.68 and 17.08 MeV, respectively. The aim of this work is to provide experimental data for modeling the γ process which is thought to be responsible for the production of the proton-rich isotopes heavier than iron. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.