α Decays in Superstrong Static Electric Fields**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11535004, 11761161001, 11375086, 11120101005, 11175085 and 11235001, the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant No. 2018YFA0404403, the National Major State Basic Research and Development of China, under Grant No. 2016YFE0129300, and the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macau under

Abstract

Superstrong static electric fields could deform Coulomb barriers between α clusters and daughter nuclei, and bring up the possibility of speeding up α decays. We adopt a simplified model for the spherical α emitter 212Po and study its responses to superstrong static electric fields. We find that superstrong electric fields with field strengths |E| ∼ 0.1 MV/fm could turn the angular distribution of α emissions from isotropic to strongly anisotropic, and speed up α decays by more than one order of magnitude. We also study the influences of superstrong electric fields along the Po isotope chains, and discuss the implications of our studies on α decays in superstrong monochromatic laser fields. The study here might be helpful for future theoretical studies of α decay in realistic superstrong laser fields.