Distinction of the deep-inelastic and quasi-elastic component in a reaction induced by a light heavy ion

The energy spectra of fragments produced in the /sup 20/Ne+/sup 197/Au reaction at E/sub lab/ = 400 MeV are found to exhibit a fully relaxed component clearly separated from the quasi-elastic component, the latter being characterized by a mean velocity near to the beam velocity. The consequences for the assignment of the deep-inelastic component in similar systems are discussed.