A new measurement of the astrophysical 8Li(d, t)7Li reaction

The excitation function of the 8Li(d, t)7Li reaction was directly measured using 8Li beam irradiating a deuterated polyethylene target at center-of-mass system beam energies (Ecm) between 0.3 and 1.2 MeV. This is the first cross section measurement of the above reaction below Ecm=1.5 MeV, covering Gamow peaks for 1-3×109 K of astrophysical interest. A broad resonance-like structure was observed at around Ecm=0.8 MeV. The astrophysical reaction rate deduced from the present result is far larger than the previously reported values estimated from extrapolation of data observed at higher energies, roughly by one order of magnitude at about 1×109 K.