Elastic α scattering and the family problem on 64Zn and 106Cd

Full text: The p-nuclei are a particular set of 35 stable nuclei heavier than iron located at the proton-rich side of the valley of β-stability. These are thought to be considerably produced by a series of photodisintegration reactions from neutron rich isotopes, previously produced by neutron capture processes. The process of creating these p-nuclei, the so-called γ-process is believed to occur e.g. in the O/Ne layers of Type II Supernovae at temperatures of a few GK. In order to run a γ-process network calculation, the p-nuclei abundances and the rates of reactions involved have to be known. However, the α-nucleus optical potential is one of the most uncertain parameters of the theoretical reaction rate calculation. As such, the experimental study of the low energy α-nucleus optical potential is of crucial importance. In this work we present the results from the analysis of the experimentally measured angular distributions of the reactions 64Zn(α,α)64Zn and 106Cd(α,α)106Cd at energies above and below the Coulomb barrier. The difficulties that arise in the study of the α-nuclear potential and the so-called Family Problem are also addressed in this work.