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The $^{12}$C + $^{16}$O reaction plays a particularly important role in both the carbon and oxygen-burning phases of stars. Fang et al. measured this reaction in a thick-target experiment a few years ago, with both singles and particle-γ coincidence techniques down to a few nanobarns. However, the lowest energy points suffer from large experimental uncertainties which prevent discriminating between the Fowler model and the hindrance approach. Further measurements at low energies with smaller errors are therefore needed to clarify the underlying physics, in order to determine the reaction rate at astrophysical energies.
An experiment on $^{12}$C + $^{16}$O aiming at the measurement of fusion cross sections below the μb range with the combined set-up of AGATA and silicon detectors was performed at LNL. The fusion events were identified by coincidences between the prompt $\gamma$-rays and the light charged particles (p,$\alpha$) evaporated from the compound nucleus $^{28}$Si.