We have measured the angular distributions of the neutron polarization for the ${}_{}{}^{13}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,n)$ reaction at $E_{\alpha }=2.075,2.25, \mathrm{and} 2.43$ MeV to determine $J^{\pi }$ assignments for states in ${}_{}{}^{17}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{O}$ at 7.97, 8.07, and 8.197 MeV. Our analysis of $\sigma \left(\theta \right)$ and $P\left(\theta \right)$ data shows that the parity assignments reported by Schölermann for these states are ambiguous due to the spin and parity structure of the ${}_{}{}^{13}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,n){}_{}{}^{16}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{O}$ reaction. The usefulness of this reaction as a source of polarized neutrons is also discussed briefly.

• Received 12 March 1973

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.8.848