Angular momentum distributions for [sup 16]O+[sup 144]Nd

Fusion cross sections have been measured for the system [sup 16]O+[sup 144]Nd at bombarding energies in the range 67 MeV[le][ital E][sub lab][le]90 MeV by detecting directly evaporation residues in Si detectors and in the range 60 MeV[le][ital E][sub lab][le]75 MeV by off-line detection of the K x rays emitted by the radioactive evaporation residues and daughters. In order to obtain the spin distributions in the compound system gamma-ray multiplicity distributions for the most important neutron evaporation channels were also measured using a 4[pi] BaF[sub 2] array, in conjunction with Ge detectors. Results are compared with calculations based on models that consider fluctuations in barrier height due to ground-state zero-point vibrations as well as couplings to various inelastic and transfer channels.