New α-Emitting Isotope ^{214}U and Abnormal Enhancement of α-Particle Clustering in Lightest Uranium Isotopes

Z Y Zhang; H B Yang; M H Huang; Z G Gan; C X Yuan; C Qi; A N Andreyev; M L Liu; L Ma; M M Zhang; Y L Tian; Y S Wang; J G Wang; C L Yang; G S Li; Y H Qiang; W Q Yang; R F Chen; H B Zhang; Z W Lu; X X Xu; L M Duan; H R Yang; W X Huang; Z Liu; X H Zhou; Y H Zhang; H S Xu; N Wang; H B Zhou; X J Wen; S Huang; W Hua; L Zhu; X Wang; Y C Mao; X T He; S Y Wang; W Z Xu; H W Li; Z Z Ren; S G Zhou

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.152502

New α-Emitting Isotope ^{214}U and Abnormal Enhancement of α-Particle Clustering in Lightest Uranium Isotopes

Phys Rev Lett. 2021 Apr 16;126(15):152502. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.152502.

Authors

Z Y Zhang^{1

2}, H B Yang¹, M H Huang^{1

2}, Z G Gan^{1

2}, C X Yuan³, C Qi⁴, A N Andreyev^{5

6}, M L Liu^{1

2}, L Ma¹, M M Zhang¹, Y L Tian¹, Y S Wang^{1

2

7}, J G Wang¹, C L Yang¹, G S Li¹, Y H Qiang¹, W Q Yang¹, R F Chen¹, H B Zhang¹, Z W Lu¹, X X Xu^{1

2}, L M Duan^{1

2}, H R Yang^{1

2}, W X Huang^{1

2}, Z Liu^{1

2}, X H Zhou^{1

2}, Y H Zhang^{1

2}, H S Xu^{1

2}, N Wang⁸, H B Zhou⁸, X J Wen⁸, S Huang⁸, W Hua³, L Zhu³, X Wang⁹, Y C Mao¹⁰, X T He¹¹, S Y Wang¹², W Z Xu¹², H W Li¹², Z Z Ren¹³, S G Zhou^{14

15}

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of High Precision Nuclear Spectroscopy, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
² School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
³ Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China.
⁴ Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm SE-10691, Sweden.
⁵ Department of Physics, University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom.
⁶ Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan.
⁷ School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
⁸ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
¹⁰ Department of Physics, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China.
¹¹ College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China.
¹² Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, School of Space Science and Physics, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China.
¹³ School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
¹⁴ CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
¹⁵ Center of Theoretical Nuclear Physics, National Laboratory of Heavy-Ion Accelerator, Lanzhou 730000, China.

PMID: 33929212
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.152502

Abstract

A new α-emitting isotope ^{214}U, produced by the fusion-evaporation reaction ^{182}W(^{36}Ar,4n)^{214}U, was identified by employing the gas-filled recoil separator SHANS and the recoil-α correlation technique. More precise α-decay properties of even-even nuclei ^{216,218}U were also measured in the reactions of ^{40}Ar, ^{40}Ca beams with ^{180,182,184}W targets. By combining the experimental data, improved α-decay reduced widths δ^{2} for the even-even Po-Pu nuclei in the vicinity of the magic neutron number N=126 are deduced. Their systematic trends are discussed in terms of the N_{p}N_{n} scheme in order to study the influence of proton-neutron interaction on α decay in this region of nuclei. It is strikingly found that the reduced widths of ^{214,216}U are significantly enhanced by a factor of two as compared with the N_{p}N_{n} systematics for the 84≤Z≤90 and N<126 even-even nuclei. The abnormal enhancement is interpreted by the strong monopole interaction between the valence protons and neutrons occupying the π1f_{7/2} and ν1f_{5/2} spin-orbit partner orbits, which is supported by the large-scale shell model calculation.