The $(d,\alpha )$ reaction is highly selective, favoring final states in which the removed neutron and proton are completely aligned in a $J=2j$ configuration. We have studied the ${}^{14,15}\mathrm{C}(d,\alpha ){}^{12,13}\mathrm{B}$ reactions in inverse kinematics using the Helical Orbit Spectrometer (HELIOS) at Argonne National Laboratory. In ${}^{12}\mathrm{B}$, the reaction strongly favors the population of a known $3^{+}$ state at 5.61 MeV, and for ${}^{13}\mathrm{B}$, we observe a possible unreported doublet of states at high excitation energy, probably corresponding to the ${}^{12}\mathrm{B}\left(3^{+}\right)$ state coupled to the $1s_{1/2}$ neutron from the ${}^{15}\mathrm{C}$ ground state. In contrast to single-nucleon transfer, deuteron-transfer reactions have not been widely studied with exotic nuclei.

• Received 24 September 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.90.061301