Interpretation of the (d, α) Reactions onF19andN15at 20.9 MeV

The differential cross sections corresponding to the production of the first three and first two residual states in the reactions ${\mathrm{F}}^{19}(d, \alpha ){\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ and ${\mathrm{N}}^{15}(d, \alpha ){\mathrm{C}}^{13}$ have been measured from 17° to 170° and 17° to 112°, respectively, for a deuteron energy of 20.9 MeV (lab). The shapes of the angular distributions are consistent with a cutoff-radius distorted-wave Born-approximation calculation using the zero-range approximation for the nuclear interaction. The best fit was obtained for the ${\mathrm{F}}^{19}(d, {\alpha }_1){\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ which proceeded primarily by $L=0\mathrm{}$ orbital-angular-momentum transfer. Arguments based on the character of the nuclear states involved and the magnitudes of the experimental differential cross sections indicate that the most favorable reaction mechanism is the pickup of a neutron-proton pair from the target nucleus.