We investigated the neutron pickup reaction 13C(d,t)12C at deuteron beam energies of 14.5 and 18 MeV, populating states in 12C at 0.0 MeV (0+), 4.43 MeV (2+), 7.65 MeV ( \({0}_{2}^{+}\) ), and 9.64 MeV(3−). The measured angular distributions (ADs) were analyzed using both the Distorted Wave Born Approximation (DWBA) and Coupled Reaction Channels (CRC) frameworks, assuming a direct one-step neutron transfer process. Spectroscopic amplitudes (SAs) for the 13C → 12C(12C*) + n configurations were extracted and show reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions where available. The DWBA analysis provided a better overall description of the experimental data compared to CRC, particularly for the ground state and lower excitations. Although CRC incorporated channel-coupling effects, the improvements were marginal, with persisting discrepancies at backward angles. A notable energy dependence was observed for the SA of the 3− state. To our knowledge, this work reports the first experimental determinations of SAs for the 7.65 MeV ( \({0}_{2}^{+}\) ) and 9.64 MeV (3−) states in 12C from the 13C(d,t) reaction, although the SA for the 9.64 MeV state shows significant model and energy dependence. These results offer new insights into nuclear structure and neutron configurations in light nuclei.
