CHARGED-PARTICLE CALORIMETRY OF AR-40-27 REACTIONS FROM 36 TO 65 MEV(AL)U/

Temperatures and excitation energies have been independently determine d for hot nuclei formed in the Ar-40 + Al-27 reaction at energies rang ing from 36 to 65 MeV/u. Charged products have been measured in a geom etry close to 4pi in the center of mass with the multidetectors MUR an d TONNEAU. Events were sorted as a function of the impact parameter an d the products emitted from equilibrated nuclei were separated from bo th pre-equilibrium and target-like products. Temperature (slope parame ter) and excitation energy values were deduced from the kinetic energi es of particles in the frame of the reconstructed equilibrated nucleus . Both have been found to increase with decreasing impact parameter. F or the most central collisions impact parameters - less than 2 fm - th e temperature was seen to increase with incident energy (slowly above 45 MeV/u) and reach a value of 7 MeV at 65 MeV/u. The excitation energ y per nucleon exhibited a similar behaviour. The correlation between e xcitation energy and temperature was found to remain compatible with t he statistical theory.