Multi-nucleon transfer reactions as a tool for spectroscopy of heavy nuclei

Multi-nucleon transfer reactions have been shown to be an important tool for high-spin spectroscopic studies of Rn, Ra and Th nuclei with N ≃ 134. These nuclei have been populated using the heavy-ion collisions of 56Fe + 232Th, 86Kr + 232Th and 136Xe + 232Th at beam energies 15-20% above the Coulomb barrier. Excited states with spins as high as 28(latin small letter h with stroke) have been observed using the latter reaction. Yield distributions of binary-reaction products stopped in thick targets have been derived from the analysis of γ-γ and γ-γ-γ coincidence events. These yields indicate that there is significant fission of the target-like reaction products. Intensities deduced for products resulting from neutron transfer or proton transfer appear to be Q-value dependent, while processes involving transfers of several protons and neutrons are governed by mass and charge equilibration.