Study of the surrogate-reaction method applied to neutron-induced capture cross sections

Gamma-decay probabilities of 173Yb and 176Lu have been measured using the surrogate reactions 174Yb(3He,αγ)173Yb* and 174Yb(3He,pγ)176Lu*, respectively. For the first time, the gamma-decay probabilities have been obtained with two independent experimental methods based on the use of C6D6 scintillators and Germanium detectors. Our results for the radiative-capture cross sections are several times higher than the corresponding neutron-induced data. To explain these differences, we have used our gamma-decay probabilities to extract rather direct information on the spin distributions populated in the transfer reactions used. They are about two times wider and the mean values are 3 to 4 ℏ higher than the ones populated in the neutron-induced reactions. As a consequence, in the transfer reactions neutron emission to the ground and first excited states of the residual nucleus is strongly suppressed and gamma-decay is considerably enhanced.