Light-charged particles emitted from the decay of the 156Er compound nucleus

Angular distributions of light charged particles emitted from the decay of the compound nucleus 156Er were measured in coincidence with evaporation residues. The compound nucleus was populated at an average excitation energy of 113 MeV from 12C + 144Sm and 60Ni + 96Zr entrance channels. The excitation energy was chosen such that the fission barriers fall below the neutron binding energies for the highest angular momentum thus giving similar spin distributions leading to evaporation residues for both system. The particle multiplicities and spectral shapes are compared to statistical model calculations in searching for entrance channel effects in the formation of the compound nucleus