Study of 18O+12,13C fusion-evaporation reactions with the GARFIELD array

Non statistical effects in the emission of light charged particles from fusion-evaporation nuclear reactions are known for light and medium mass nuclei. Cases previously reported by the NUCL-EX collaboration show discrepancies between experimental data and statistical calculations in decay channels with even residues, possibly due to alpha clusterization. This thesis is focused on the analysis of an experimental campaign carried out at the Legnaro National Laboratories with the GARFIELD+RCo setup to further investigate these topics. The studied systems are: 18O+13C at 112.5 MeV and 18O+12C at 122 and 300 MeV. This thesis work covers the various steps of a typical nuclear experiment conducted with the GARFIELD array. After data taking, preliminary experimental data have been reconstructed through data cleaning, calibration and particle identification. Being the experimental data reconstruction still ongoing, no final experimental reconstructed data have been reported. Nonetheless, simulated data by Monte Carlo statistical decay code have been analysed to investigate the evolution of fusion-evaporation processes from a statistical point of view. The analysis has been focused on the study of global observables like total charge and multiplicity and on single-particle observables like energy spectra and angular distributions. GEMINI++ statistical decay code simulating the fragment emission from a hot source has been considered in the study of the 122 MeV reaction and for a direct comparison of the three reactions. Finally, the HFl statistical code conceived by the collaboration for the light nuclei decay and containing the details of the known excited levels has been compared with GEMINI++. This thesis work paves the way for further studies on the reconstructed data to highlight possible agreements with theoretical models.