Study of the $^3$He($^{14}$O,$\alpha)^{13}$O reaction

We have studied the structure of $^{13}$O through the $^3$He($^{14}$O,$\alpha)^{13}$O reaction. Recent work examining the resonance elastic scattering of p + $^{12}$N has provided information on the excited states of $^{13}$O up to 4 MeV (B.B. Skorodumov et al., Phys. Rev. C 75, 024607 (2007)). Little is known about the excited states of this isotope at excitation energies above 6.02 MeV. Due to a low separation energy (S$_p$ = 1.516 MeV) the most likely populated states are 1p and 2p unbound. States in $^{13}$O above the alpha-particle decay threshold may also have astrophysical significance, and may influence the rate of the $^9$C($\alpha,p)^{12}$N reaction in dense, low metallicity stars. The ATLAS in-flight radioactive beam facility at Argonne National Laboratory produced an $^{14}$O beam of 10$^5$ particles per second at 148 MeV. The beam bombarded a cryogenic $^3$He target cell. Three annular segmented Si detectors detected light reaction products between $\theta_{lab}$=8 and 48 degrees. Heavy beam-like fragments were identified using a four segment Si E-$\Delta$E telescope covering laboratory angles between 1.4 and 7 degrees. Preliminary results will be discussed. Work supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics under contracts DE-FG02-04ER41320 (WMU) and DE-AC02-06CH11357 (ANL).