Evidence for Excitation of 24Mg Resonant States through the 12C(16O, 12C12C)4He Reaction at 85 MeV

The population of 12C-12C molecular resonances in the 16O + 12C interaction has been studied in a kinematically complete experiment at 85 MeV. It was observed that the 12C-12C-α final state is mostly due to projectile excitation followed by α emission. Nevertheless in the region of higher 12C-α relative energy evidence is found for excitation of high-lying 24Mg states, decaying into the 12C-12C system.