Light-charged particles emitted from the decay of the {sup 156}Er compound nucleus

Angular distributions of light charged particles emitted from the decay of the compound nucleus {sup 156}Er were measured in coincidence with evaporation residues. The compound nucleus was populated at an average excitation energy of 113 MeV from {sup 12}C + {sup 144}Sm and {sup 60}Ni + {sup 96}Zr entrance channels. The excitation energy was chosen such that the fission barriers fall below the neutron binding energies for the highest angular momentum thus giving similar spin distributions leading to evaporation residues for both system. The particle multiplicities and spectral shapes are compared to statistical model calculations in searching for entrance channel effects in the formation of the compound nucleus.