Production of neutron-rich heavy nuclei around N = 162 in multinucleon transfer reactions

TL;DR

This study uses the dinuclear system model to systematically analyze the production of neutron-rich heavy nuclei around N=162 via multinucleon transfer reactions, highlighting shell effects and optimal conditions for future experiments.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive theoretical analysis of neutron-rich heavy nuclei production, emphasizing the role of shell effects and proposing optimal experimental conditions.

Findings

Shell effects significantly enhance the formation of N=162 nuclei.

Fragment isotopic distributions are broad and energy-dependent.

Heavier targets improve the production of superheavy neutron-rich nuclei.

Abstract

Within the framework of the dinuclear system model, the production mechanism of neutron-rich heavy nuclei around N = 162 has been investigated systematically. The isotopic yields in the multinucleon transfer reaction of $^{238}$U + $^{248}$Cm was analyzed and compared the available experimental data. Systematics on the production of superheavy nuclei via $^{238}$U on $^{252,254}$Cf, $^{254}$Es and $^{257}$Fm is investigated. It is found that the shell effect is of importance in the formation of neutron-rich nuclei around N=162 owing to the enhancement of fission barrier. The fragments in the multinucleon transfer reactions manifest the broad isotopic distribution and are dependent on the beam energy. The polar angles of the fragments tend to the forward emission with increasing the beam energy. The production cross sections of new isotopes are estimated and heavier targets are available for the neutron-rich superheavy nucleus formation. The optimal system and beam energy are proposed for the future experimental measurements.