Decay studies of rare-earth nuclei to superheavy elements and the associated shell effects

The effects of shell closure in nuclei via cluster decay have been investigated. In this context, the Preformed Cluster Model (PCM) based on Quantum Mechanical Fragmentation Theory is used. The key point in the cluster radioactivity is that it involves the interplay of close shell effects of parent and daughter nucleus. Small half life for a parent indicates shell stabilized daughter and long half life indicates the stability of the parent against the decay. Cluster decays of rare-earth nuclei are studied with a view to look for neutron magic shells for the 50Sn nucleus as the daughter product always, to find the most probable cluster decays and the possibility, if any, of new neutron shells. The recently observed α-decay chains 293-294117 which were produced by the fusion reactions with target 249Bk and projectile 48Ca at Dubna, in Russia. The α-decay calculations are performed for all the parents of the two alpha decay chains and compared with the experimental data and with other theoretical model.