Production of Ca, Ga, and Br nuclei having angular momenta equal to or greater than the calculated liquid drop limit

A semiconductor detector telescope has been used to detect heavy recoil nuclei produced in the reactions of 157 and 262 MeV ${}_{}{}^{14}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{N}$ projectiles with ${}_{}{}^{27}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Al}$, Cr, and Ni target nuclei. Cross sections have been determined for the production of heavy recoiling compound nucleus residues. The limiting angular momenta which have been derived from these cross sections indicate the production of nonfissioning compound nuclei with angular momenta which equal or exceed the critical limit calculated using the liquid drop model. A comparison of the data with limits calculated using a reaction potential model recently proposed by Bass suggests that a picture based on dynamic restrictions to the fusion process provides a reasonable explanation of the results. However, the saturation limit predicted by the Bass model has not been observed.