Probable spontaneous decay modes of 254Es radioactive nucleus

Abstract

Collective analysis of theoretical and experimental studies suggests that the nuclei of heavy mass region are radioactive, and exhibit α decay, cluster radioactivity, heavy particle radioactivity and spontaneous fission. The dominance of one or more decay modes rely on the stability of parent nucleus and the fragmentation structure associated with them. In view of this, the decay analysis of 254Es radioactive nucleus is carried out using collective clusterization approach of preformed cluster model (PCM) that treats the competing decay mechanisms on parallel footing. The minima’s of fragmentation potential are investigated to identify the most preferred decay channels of 254Es nucleus. The half-lives T1/2 of α and SF decay modes are calculated using preformation probability and penetrability which show nice agreement with available measurements. The theoretical estimates are provided on cluster and heavy particle radioactivity of 254Es nucleus, and it will be of further interest to validate them via further theoretical analysis and corresponding experiments. To obtain a clear picture of cluster emission decay channel, an analysis is made by investigating the fragmentation behavior in view of preformation and penetration probabilities.