Isotopic trends of quasifission and fusion-fission in the reactions $^{48}$Ca+$^{239,244}$Pu

Abstract

Background: Quasifission and fusion-fission are primary mechanisms to prevent the production of superheavy elements. The recent experimental measurements reveal that the fusion-evaporation cross section in the $3n$ reaction channel of $^{48}$Ca+$^{239}$Pu is 50 times lower than using $^{244}$Pu as target nucleus. However, the precise mechanisms of this remarkable isotopic dependence are not well understood. Purpose: To understand the experimental observation of the rapid decrease of stability of superheavy nuclei as the neutron number decreases, the theoretical studies of quasifission and fusion-fission in connection with experimental production for $Z$=114 flerovium isotopes are required to investigate the possible differences in reaction mechanisms induced by these two targets. Methods: We propose an approach called TDHF+HIVAP to take into account both the evolution of dinuclear system and the deexcitation of compound nucleus, which combines the microscopic time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) method for the fusion and quasifission dynamics with the statistical evaporation model HIVAP for fusion-fission dynamics. Results: ......The quantum shell effect displays a crucial role in both the quasifission and the fusion-fission processes. The quasifission is considerably reduced and the survival probability is enhanced around one order of magnitude in the reaction using $^{244}$Pu target as compared to the $^{239}$Pu case. Conclusions: The studies by using TDHF+HIVAP method well account for the experimental observations and the present method clearly shows its applicability in the reaction mechanisms of quasifission and fusion-fission dynamics. The experimental and theoretical results encourage the use of neutron-rich targets for the production of new superheavy elements.