Monoergic deuterons from the Minnesota electrostatic generator were used to bombard a thin gaseous target of ${\mathrm{He}}^3$. Protons formed in the reaction ${\mathrm{He}}^3(d, p){\mathrm{He}}^4$ were detected outside the reaction chamber by a NaI scintillation counter. The cross section for the reaction ${\mathrm{He}}^3(d, p){\mathrm{He}}^4$ was measured between the angles of 15° and 130° in the laboratory at deuteron energies of 0.260, 0.455, 0.978, 1.51, 2.01, 2.50, 3.01, and 3.56 Mev. The cross section was measured at a fixed angle of 86° for deuteron energies from 240 kev to 914 kev. A maximum occurred at a deuteron energy of 430±30 kev. The cross section appears to be isotropic in the center-of-mass system in the neighborhood of the maximum. The value of the total cross section at the maximum is 0.90±0.10 barn. Comparison of this value with the upper bound provided by the single level dispersion formula indicates that the spin of the compound state of ${\mathrm{Li}}^5$ formed in the reaction is $\frac{3}{2}$. At 978 kev there is a slight angular dependence of the cross section, which becomes more pronounced at higher energies. At 2.50 Mev the cross section displays a minimum at approximately 113°. At 3.01 Mev the minimum has shifted to 108°, and at 3.56 Mev it appears at 103°.

• Received 2 January 1953

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.90.292