Break-up and pre-equilibrium dynamics of deuteron emission in 3 He induced reactions on 27 Al, 59 Co, 93 Nb, and 197 Au

The production of deuterons from 3 He-induced reactions on medium to heavy-mass targets 27 Al, 59 Co, 93 Nb, and 197 Au has been investigated at an incident energy of 130 MeV and at various emission angles. The deuteron breakup cross sections were calculated using the Serber model and the Gadioli method, while theoretical predictions for pre-equilibrium proton and deuteron emission were obtained using the TALYS-2.0 code. The calculated results were compared with the available experimental inclusive deuteron spectra measured at different angles 9°–21° The analysis indicates that deuteron emission at forward angles is predominantly governed by breakup processes, whereas, at backward angles, pre-equilibrium emission provides the major contribution. In the χ 2 test around the peak region, the models deviations fall within the experimental uncertainty margins, confirming their validity for predicting the kinematics of the direct reaction component. A systematic trend is observed in which the breakup cross section at forward angles increases with target mass, while the pre-equilibrium component at backward angles decreases. Moreover, for all investigated reactions involving medium to heavy mass target nuclei, deuteron pre-equilibrium emission is found to be stronger than that of protons at backward angles.