Bremsstrahlung emission during $\alpha$-decay of $^{226}{\rm Ra}$

TL;DR

This study measures and analyzes bremsstrahlung emission during the alpha decay of $^{226}$Ra, comparing experimental data with quantum calculations and exploring the emission contributions from different nuclear regions.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental spectrum of bremsstrahlung during $^{226}$Ra alpha decay and compares it with quantum models, highlighting the tunneling contribution.

Findings

Good agreement between experimental data and quantum calculations.

Destructive interference between tunneling and external emission contributions.

Photon emission during tunneling significantly affects the spectrum.

Abstract

We obtained the spectrum of probability of the bremsstrahlung emission accompanying the $\alpha$-decay of $^{226}{\rm Ra}$ (E$_{\alpha}$=4.8 MeV) by measuring the $\alpha$-$\gamma$ coincidences and using the model presented in our previous study on the $\alpha-$decay of $^{214}{\rm Po}$ (E$_{\alpha}$=7.7 MeV). We compare the experimental data with the quantum mechanical calculation and find a good agreement between theory and experiment. We discuss the differences between the photon spectra connected with the $\alpha$-decay of the $^{226}{\rm Ra}$ and $^{214}{\rm Po}$ nuclei. For the two mentioned nuclei we analyze the bremsstrahlung emission contributions from the tunneling and external regions of the nucleus barrier into the total spectrum, and we find the destructive interference between these contributions. We also find that the emission of photons during tunneling of the $\alpha$-particle gives an important contribution to the bremsstrahlung spectrum in the whole E$_{\gamma}$ energy range of the studied $^{226}$Ra nucleus.