A consistent cluster model treatment of exotic decays and alpha decays from heavy nuclei

A cluster model employing a local, effective cluster-core potential based on a folding procedure is used to investigate exotic and alpha decays from heavy nuclei as a quantum tunnelling phenomenon within a semiclassical approximation. For the exotic decays, excellent agreement with all reported experimental measurements of the partial lifetimes for 14C and 24Ne emission from heavy nuclei is obtained. Further consideration of the structure of these nuclei indicates preformation or spectroscopic factors generally in the range 0.1-0.5. For alpha decay, a similar cluster-core potential is represented by a simple three-parameter form having a fixed diffuseness, a radius proportional to A1/3 and a depth which is adjusted to fit the Q value of the particular decay. The calcuations yield excellent agreement with the vast majority of the available data for ground state to ground state alpha decays. Some examples are presented. (Author)