Optical potential analysis for $^{26}$Al elastic scattering of protons and deuterons

Destruction of $^{26}$Al in many explosive stellar environments is thought to proceed through the (p,$\gamma$) reaction. The effect of this reaction on the observed abundances of $^{26}$Al in the galaxy and its extinction in meteorites remains an open question. In this context, an experimental campaign has been carried at the HRIBF facility (ORNL) with a particular focus on studying the astrophysically involved single-particle levels of $^{27}$Si. Since the reliability of the spectroscopic information deduced from direct reactions lies on the validity of nuclear-reaction theories, it is essential to determine the best nucleon optical model potential parameters for the relevant targets. To this end, we have measured the elastic scattering of $^{26}$Al+p and $^{26}$Al+d in inverse kinematics at an incident energy of 117 MeV. Details about the experimental approach will be presented along with the preliminary results.