Microscopic description of cluster radioactivity fission valleys along isotopic and isotonic chains

Abstract

Cluster radioactivity has been successfully described as a super-asymmetric fission mode within the microscopic self-consistent Gogny Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation [Phys. Rev. C 84, 044608 (2011)]. For nuclei preserving the neutron-to-proton $N/Z$ ratio of the doubly magic $^{208}$Pb, a cluster radioactivity fission valley has been identified. Such a valley can also be found both in actinides and super-heavy nuclei. In this paper, chains of isotopes and isotones are examined to determine the limits of existence of the cluster radioactivity fission mode. It is shown that the super-asymmetric valley can be found in a wide range of the nuclear chart. Nevertheless, the valley flattens more and more when diverging from the isospin asymmetry of $^{208}$Pb. For neutron-deficient nuclei with $N/Z <$ 1.41, it is found that the valley diminishes before reaching the scission point, and cluster radioactivity can not be observed.