Search for hyperdeformation in light Xe nuclei

Matière Nucléaire; International audience; The ultimate search for hyperdeformation (HD) at high spins with the EUROBALL spectrometer was performed for 126Ba as a hyper long (HLHD) experiment. The DIAMANT ancillary detector was used to tag \gamma -rays in coincidence with the emitted light charged particles. Using \gamma -energy correlation methods, the particle--xn-\gamma data have been analysed to search for hyperdeformed structures in the corresponding residual nuclei. Data in coincidence with one \alpha particle indicate the presence of normal deformed collective bands up to very high spins and the possible occurrence of HD-like ridge structures in 122Xe.