Nuclear reaction ⁶Li(³He, p)⁸Be*[16.63; 16.92] at sub-barrier energies

We investigate low-energy modes of the ⁶Li(³He, p) nuclear reaction leading to a production of ⁸Be nuclei in 16.63 and 16.92 MeV excited states which may have important applications in nuclear fusion research. An extrapolation procedure developed previously is used to calculate reaction cross sections σ at energies below 1 MeV and the corresponding Maxwellian rate parameters ⟨σv⟩ in the 0–200 keV temperature range. A significant discrepancy between the present values of ⟨σv⟩ and those accepted elsewhere is marked at low temperatures. An effect of low-energy resonances associated with highly excited states in the compound nucleus ⁹B is discussed. The calculated ⁶Li + ³He reaction cross sections and rate parameters are tabulated.