Limits on Angular Momentum in Heavy-Ion Compound-Nucleus Reactions

Experimentally measured fusion excitation functions for the reactions induced on ${}_{}{}^{27}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Al}$ with ${}_{}{}^{16}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{O}$ and on ${}_{}{}^{107}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ag}$ with ${}_{}{}^{20}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ne}$ are interpreted in terms of an equilibrium model with fission competition during de-excitation of the compound nucleus. The results of the calculation are in excellent agreement with experimental results, thereby predicting limits to angular momenta for nuclei surviving de-excitation of the compound nucleus.