Abstract
Several key states in 18Ne[Neon-18] a ect the reaction rate of the astrophysically-important
14O[Oxygen-14]( [Alpha],p)17F[Fluorine-17] reaction, important for breakout of the Hot-
CNO cycle and key to the ignition of Type-I X-ray bursts. Currently, a direct measurement
of the 14O( ,p)17F reaction cross section is extremely dicult. Instead, calculation of the
stellar reaction rate depends on the parameters of the states in the fusion product nucleus
18Ne, which can be studied indirectly through transfer reactions. With the development
of the Jet Experiments in Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics (JENSA) gas jet system,
targets of pure gas are achievable, opening new avenues for studies with transfer reactions.
In order to investigate states in 18Ne, the 20Ne[Neon-20](p,t)18Ne reaction was utilized with
a pure neon target from the JENSA system and an array of highly-segmented silicon strip
detectors. Distorted wave Born-approximation (DWBA) calculations were then compared
to experimental angular distributions, and a number of spin-parity assignments are made for
states in 18Ne.