High energy alpha particle emission as a challenging mechanism for synthesis of very heavy nuclei

Abstract

Abstract Two experiments made with the MSP144 stepped pole magnetic spectrometer of FLNR-JINR Dubna measured the energy spectra of α particles emitted at zero degree (collinear kinematic) in the reactions 40Ar(220 MeV) + 232Th and 48Ca(270 MeV) + 238U. The study was pursued up to the maximum energy the alpha particles may have in a two-body reaction, without excitation of the reaction partners, the so-called kinematic limit. The observed cross sections in the vicinity of the kinematic limits were of the order of μb. In the indicated reactions, the heavy partners of the recorded alpha particles in the exit channel were respectively 268Sg and 282Db. At the kinematic limit, the heavy partners have excitation energies close to zero, therefore a high probability to survive.