Investigating fusion attributes in \(^{30}\hbox {Si+}^{140}\hbox {Ce}\) reaction around the barrier

In heavy-ion collision experiments, the fusion cross section in the sub-barrier energy region is found to be enhanced by several orders of magnitude in comparison to the prediction of the one-dimensional barrier penetration model (1D-BPM) that involves the quantum mechanical tunneling effect during fusion. So far, the coupling-aided tunneling due to participating nuclei’s intrinsic degrees of freedom continues to be identified as an accountable factor. We intend to probe the role of structural properties and low-lying inelastic excitations of the colliding nuclei in driving the fusion phenomenon for energies in the near and sub-barrier regions. In the study, the fusion excitation function has been measured for \(^{30}\hbox {Si+}^{140}\hbox {Ce}\) reaction for energies \(\approx \) 11% below to 13% above the Coulomb barrier. The measured fusion cross section is found to be noticeably enhanced in the sub-barrier region compared to the corresponding 1D-BPM prediction. The coupled-channel (CC) formalism in the ccfull framework has been employed to interpret the aforementioned intricate processes involved in fusion. The present results have been compared with those of a few nearby mass systems to understand different aspects of channel coupling in heavy-ion fusion.