Alpha-particles as probes of nuclear shape and structure effects in proton evaporation spectra

The emission barriers and subbarrier anisotropies in the alpha-particle decay with respect to the spin direction on Sn and rare earth compound nuclei are examined in the light of recent calculations incorporating deformation effects in the decay process. For the Sn systems the spectral shapes and anisotropies can be examined without involving deformation. For the rare earth systems deformation which increases with spin is necessary to explain the data. Energy spectra and angular correlations of evaporated protons from the 52Cr (34S, 2p2n)82Sr reaction were measured in coincidence with discrete transitions. Large shifts in proton spectra were observed when high spin states in different rotational bands are populated. These effects cannot be explained by statistical model calculations that do not include explicitly nuclear structure effects in the deexcitation process. They are interpreted as due to near-yrast stretched proton emission, which preferentially populates the yrast band by subbarrier protons