Cluster radioactivity and very asymmetric fission through quasi-molecular shapes

The decay of radioactive nuclei which emit heavy clusters like C, O, Ne, Mg and Si has been studied in the fission valley which leads one spherical nucleus towards two spherical touching nuclei before crossing the barrier. Assuming volume conservation, the deformation energy has been calculated within a generalized liquid drop model taking into account the proximity effects between the cluster and the daughter nucleus. The theoretical partial half-lives obtained within the WKB barrier penetration probability are in good agreement with the experimental data for the heaviest clusters. The Ne, Mg and Si emission looks like a very-asymmetric spontaneous fission. The 14C radioactivity is not correctly described within the fission hypothesis. The 14C and apparently also the 20O are probably pre-born in the parent nucleus, the emission being similar to the α decay process. (author)