Be8+Be8decay of excited states inO16

The $^{12}\mathrm{C}(^{12}\mathrm{C},^{8}\mathrm{Be}+^{8}\mathrm{Be})^{8}\mathrm{Be}$ reaction has been studied with 18 beam energies from $82\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}120\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$. The detection of four of the six final-state $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particles in an array of eight 16-element strip detectors permitted the full reconstruction of the reaction kinematics. $^{16}\mathrm{O}$ excitation energy spectra spanning $19--40\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$ were measured, which provided evidence for $^{16}\mathrm{O}$ excited states up to $35.1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$. Angular correlation analysis indicates the dominant spins are 6 and $8\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\hbar}$, possibly extending to $10\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\hbar}$ at the highest excitation energies. The resulting energy-spin systematics are compared with the predictions of the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ cluster model and cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations.