Alpha decay chains from superheavy nuclei

Magic islands for extra-stable nuclei in the midst of the sea of fission-instability were predicted to be around Z=114Z=114, 124 or, 126 with N=184N=184, and Z=120Z=120, with N=172N=172. Whether these fission-survived superheavy nuclei with high ZZ and NN would live long enough for detection or, undergo αα-decay in a very short time, remains an open question. αα-decay half lives of nuclei with 130≥Z≥100130≥Z≥100 have been calculated in a WKB framework using density-dependent M3Y interaction with Q-values from different mass formulae. The results are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. Fission survived Sg nuclei with Z=106Z=106, N=162N=162 is predicted to have the highest αα-decay half life (∼3.2 h) in the Z=106–108Z=106–108, N=160–164N=160–164 region called small island/peninsula. Superheavy nuclei with Z>118Z>118 are found to have αα-decay half lives of the order of microseconds or less.