Cluster structure of neutron-rich ¹⁰Be and ¹⁴C via resonant alpha scattering

Neutron-rich¹⁰Be and ¹⁴C nuclei were studied via resonant α scattering of radioactive ⁶He and ¹⁰Be beams, respectively, produced by the TwinSol facility at the University of Notre Dame. The Prototype Active-Target Time-Projection Chamber (pAT-TPC) was used as a thick gaseous α target to induce resonant scattering and as a device to track reacted particles inside the target, providing continuous excitation functions and angular distributions over a wide range of energies and angles. The experimental results indicate a melting phenomenon of α clusters in the 4⁺ rotational member of the ¹⁰Be ground state and a linear chain alignment of three α clusters in ¹⁴C excited states, as recently predicted by an anti-symmetrized molecular dynamics calculation.