α preformation and penetration probability for heavy nuclei

Abstract

The α preformation factor and penetration probability have been analyzed for even–even nuclei of Po, Rn, Ra using experimental released energies and α decay half-lives in the frame of the double folding model. It is shown that N = 126 is a neutron magic number from α preformation and shell effects play an important role in α preformation. The closer the nucleon number is to the magic number, the more difficult α formation in the parent nucleus is. The preformation factor can supply information on the nuclear structure and the penetration probability mainly determines α decay half-life.