Study of excitation functions and insights into the reaction mechanisms of $$^6$$ 6 Li fusion in Cu

Fusion phenomena in heavy-ion reactions involving all kinds of projectile and target are still an engrossing quest due to the appearance of numerous mass and energy sharing processes. Hitherto, it is required to have more experimental studies to contemplate fusion mechanisms, which are necessary to unfold. In this endeavour, for the first time, a measurement of residual cross sections from $$^6$$ Li induced reaction on $$^{\text {nat}}$$ Cu has been presented in this article within the 3.6–7.1 MeV/nucleon energy range. The residues $$^{69,67,66}$$ Ge, $$^{68,67,66,65}$$ Ga, and $$^{65,63,62}$$ Zn produced in the reaction have been identified by the $$\gamma $$ -ray spectroscopy. The measured excitation function of the residues has been analyzed using equilibrium and pre-equilibrium reaction models in the framework of PACE4, EMPIRE-3.2.2 and ALICE20 to understand the reaction mechanisms involved in the low energy region. The study indicates that the admixture of equilibrium and pre-equilibrium mechanisms indeed explains the measured residual cross sections. An estimate on the production of medically relevant $$^{68}$$ Ga has also been made.