Speaker
Description
A recent inelastic-excitation and cluster-decay experiment, $^2$H($^{14}$C, $^{14}$C$^*$->$^{10}$Be+$^4$He)$^2$H, was conducted at an incident beam energy of 27.5 MeV/A. Neutron-rich 14C projectile were inelastically excited to high-lying states beyond 20 MeV, which cover the theoretically predicted linear chain molecular rotational band with the $\sigma$-bond configuration. All three final particles in this reaction were detected, allowing the selection of the decay paths from the $^{14}$C-resonances to various states of $^{10}$Be fragment, based on the Q value spectrum. And the detection in most forward angle raises the chance for observing the near-threshold states with small relative energies. The 22.2 MeV state of $^{14}$C primarily decays to a state near 6 MeV in its daughter nucleus $^{10}$Be, consistent with previous experimental observations and theoretical predictions. This state is very likely the predicted band head of the $\sigma$-bond linear-chain molecular states of $^{14}$C. Further spin-parity analysis is still on the way which may provide stronger evidence.
