Eur. Phys. J. A (2016) 52: 116
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2016-16116-0

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

Remarks on the fission barriers of super-heavy nuclei

¹ GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, 64291, Darmstadt, Germany
² Institut für Physik, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany
³ Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Comenius University, 84248, Bratislava, Slovakia
⁴ Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55128, Mainz, Germany
⁵ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 37831, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
⁶ University of Tennessee, 37996, Knoxville, TN, USA
⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, 37235, Nashville, TN, USA
⁸ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 94551, Livermore, CA, USA
⁹ University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
¹⁰ RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, 2-1, Hirosawa, 351-0198, Wako, Saitama, Japan
¹¹ Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 319-1195, Tokai, Ibaraki, Japan
¹² Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980, Dubna, Russian Federation
¹³ Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, 40351, Jyväskylä, Finland

^* e-mail: S.Hofmann@gsi.de

Received: 14 March 2015
Accepted: 29 February 2016
Published online: 27 April 2016

Abstract

Shell-correction energies of super-heavy nuclei are approximated by using values of measured decay chains. Five decay chains were analyzed, which start at the isotopes ²⁸⁵Fl, ²⁹⁴118, ²⁹¹Lv, ²⁹²Lv and ²⁹³Lv. The data are compared with predictions of macroscopic-microscopic models. Fission barriers are estimated that can be used to eliminate uncertainties in partial fission half-lives and in calculations of evaporation-residue cross-sections. In that calculations, fission probability of the compound nucleus is a major factor contributing to the total cross-section. The data also provide constraints on the cross-sections of capture and quasi-fission in the entrance channel of the fusion reaction. Arguments are presented that fusion reactions for synthesis of isotopes of elements 118 and 120 may have higher cross-sections than assumed so far.