Fission Properties of Neutron-Rich Nuclei around the End Point of r-Process

Abstract

We studied the fission properties of neutron-rich nuclei 278, 286Cf around the end point of r-process by microscopic self-consistent approaches. The fission barriers and potential energy surfaces are obtained by constrained static Skyrme Hartree–Fock-BCS calculations. Fission fragments are studied by dynamical time-dependent Hartree–Fock+BCS calculations. Results show that 286Cf has an octupole deformation at ground state, which can increase the fission barrier height by 1.1 MeV and enhance significantly the spontaneous fission half-life. To search possible fission channels, dynamical calculations with a broad coverage of initial deformations result in two slightly asymmetric peaks around A = 128 and 150 for 278Cf, and A = 133 and 153 for 286Cf. Very asymmetric fission channels as given by semi-empirical models are not found in our results.