Target proximity effect and dynamical projectile breakup at intermediate energies

Projectile binary breakup has been investigated in Ni-58 + C-12, Mg-24, Au-197 at 34.5 MeV/A and Ni-58 + Zn-70 at 40 MeV/A, The fragment angular distributions exhibit an anisotropic pattern showing that breakup is aligned with the direction of scattered quasi-projectile (QP). The correlation functions of the two heaviest fragments have been studied as a function of charge asymmetry. They suggest that the QP decays while still in close proximity of the target. The correlation between the charge and velocity of the two heavy fragments shows that the binary breakup of the QP might originate from an important deformation of the projectile by the target, and that the lighter of the colliding partners also contributes to the aligned emission pattern. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.