Origin of Unexpected Isotopic Trends in Synthesis of Superheavy Nuclei

Origin of Unexpected Isotopic Trends in Synthesis of Superheavy Nuclei

We investigate the dependence of the yield of superheavy nuclei with Z = 110, 112, 114 on the neutron excess of the projectile nucleus with a two-parameter Smoluchowski equation. It is confirmed that in some cases, the cold fusion reactions with less neutron excess are more favourable than those with more neutron excess. In order to probe the origin of these unexpected isotopic trends, we also investigate the probabilities of capture, fusion and survival in the cold fusion reactions in detail It is found that the maximal ER cross sections of the superheavy nuclei exponentially increase as a function of Bf - Sn with Bf being the fission barrier and Sn being the neutron separation energy. Although the probabilities of capture and fusion have some influences, the unexpected isotopic trends mainly due to the dependence of the ER cross sections on the Bf - Sn value. Therefore, the reactions with larger Bf - Sn values should be more favourable for synthesis of superheavy nuclei.