Experimental determination of the ion-ion potential in the N=50 target region: A tool to probe ground-state nuclear densities

Precise elastic and inelastic differential cross sections have been measure d for the O-16 + Sr-88, Zr-90,Zr-92, Mo-92 systems at sub-barrier energies. From a coupled channel data analysis, the corresponding "experimental" bar e potentials have been determined. The comparison of these potentials with those derived from double-folding theoretical calculations and the high ene rgy (96 MeV/nucleon) elastic scattering data analysis indicate that the met hod is a very sensitive probe of the ground-state nuclear densities in the surface region. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.