Description of sub-barrier fusion cross sections by the proximity potential

In search of a global and intrinsically consistent description of the sub-barrier fusion cross sections, an optical-model calculation for systems with colliding nuclei in the 9 <= A <= 20 mass region is presented here, with the proximity potential as real part and an energy-independent Woods-Saxon form as imaginary part. The parameters of the model are carefully determined by fitting first the 12C + 12C, 16O +12C, ans sup(16O) + 16O fusion and elastic data with an energy-dependent imaginary potential. Requiring that the radius and the diffuseness, which are the same for the real and imaginary parts, be consistent with the rms radii obtained from the electron-scattering experiments, the depth of the imaginary potential is essentially the only free parameter of the model. (orig.)