Fusion of Borromean nucleus \(^{9}\)Be with \(^{197}\)Au target at near barrier energies

To probe the role of the intrinsic structure of the projectile on sub-barrier fusion, measurement of fusion cross sections has been carried out in \(^{9}\)Be + \(^{197}\)Au system in the energy range E\(_{c.m.}\)/V\(_B\) \(\approx\) 0.82 to 1.16 using off-beam gamma counting method. Measured fusion excitation function has been analyzed in the framework of the coupled-channel approach using CCFULL code. It is observed that the coupled-channel calculations, including couplings to the inelastic state of the target and the first two states of the rotational band built on the ground state of the projectile, provide a very good description of the sub-barrier fusion data. At above barrier energies, the fusion cross section is found to be suppressed by \(\approx\) 39(2)\% as compared to the coupled-channel prediction. A comparison of reduced excitation function of \(^{9}\)Be + \(^{197}\)Au with other \(x\) + \(^{197}\)Au shows a larger enhancement for \(^9\)Be in the sub-barrier region amongst Z=2-5 weakly and tightly bound projectiles, which indicates the prominent role of the projectile deformation in addition to the weak binding.