  Alpha elastic scattering angular distributions of the 106Cd(alpha,alpha)106Cd
reaction were measured at three energies around the Coulomb barrier to provide
a sensitive test for the alpha + nucleus optical potential parameter sets.
Furthermore, the new high precision angular distributions, together with the
data available from the literature were used to study the energy dependence of
the locally optimized {\alpha}+nucleus optical potential in a wide energy
region ranging from E_Lab = 27.0 MeV down to 16.1 MeV. The potentials under
study are a basic prerequisite for the prediction of alpha-induced reaction
cross sections and thus, for the calculation of stellar reaction rates used for
the astrophysical gamma process. Therefore, statistical model predictions using
as input the optical potentials discussed in the present work are compared to
the available 106Cd + alpha cross section data.
