5 ALPHA DECAY 70

5 Alpha Decay
Alpha particles were first identified as the least penetrating of the radiations emitted by naturally
occuring materials. In 1903, Rutherford measured their charge-to-mass ratio , and in 1909, he
showed that α-particles were actually He-nuclei. Many heavy nuclei, especially those of naturally
occuring radioactive series, decay through alpha emission. It is only in exceedingly rare cases
that any other spontaneous radioactive process results in the emission of nucleons, e.g. deuteron
emission as a natural decay process. There must therefore be a special reason that nuclei choose
alpha emission over other possible decay mode.

5.1 Why Alpha Decay Occurs

Alpha emission is a Coulomb repulsion effect. It becomes increasingly important for heavy
nuclei because the disruptive Coulomb force increases with size at the faster rate (as Z 2 ) than
the specific binding force, which increases ∼ as A. Alpha particles is chosen as the agent for
the spontaneous carrying away of positive charge. spontaneous process means that some kind
of kinetic energy has suddenly appeared in the system for no apparent cause. This energy must
come from a decrease in the mass of the system. Alpha particle, because it has a very stable and
tightly bound structure, and has relatively small mass compared with the mass of its separate
constituents. It is favoured as an emitted particle in order to have the disintegration products
as light as possible, and thus get the largest possible release of kinetic energy.

5.2 Basic Alpha Decay Processes

The spontaneous emission of an alpha particle can be expressed as

A A−2
Z XN −→Z−2 XN −2 + α. (123)

Thus, alpha particle is a nucleus of 4 He, consisting of two neutrons and two protons. To
understand the decay process, we need to study the conservation of energy, linear momentum,
and angular momentum. For conservation of energy, we assume the initial nucleus to be at rest.
Thus, the energy of the initial system is at rest mass energy, i.e. mX c2 . The final state has X’
and α, each of which is in motion. Thus the final total energy is

Efinal = mX′ c2 + TX′ + mα c2 + Tα , (124)

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where T is the kinetic energy of the final products. Then conservation of energy gives

mX c2 = mX′ c2 + T X′ + mα c2 + Tα

⇒ (mX − mX′ − mα )c2 = TX′ + Tα . (125)

The net release in the decay, or Q value is given by

Q = (mX − mX′ − mα )c2 . (126)

The decay will be spontaneous if Q > 0. When the masses are in atomic mass units (u), c2 =
931.502 MeV/u, then the Q values will be in MeV. It is noted that the Q value is also equal to
the total kinetic energy given to the decayfragments, i.e.

Q = TX′ + Tα . (127)

If the initial nucleus is at rest, then its linear momentum is zero, and conservation of linear
momentum then requires that X’ and α move with opposite momenta, i.e. the final linear
momentum should be zero. Hence,
Pα = PX ′ . (128)

Since T = P 2 /2m, one can show from (127) (and 128) that the kinetic energy of the alpha
particle is given by
Q
Tα =  . (129)
1 + mmα′
X

But mα /mX′ is small compared to 1, so it is usually expressed as 4/(A − 4), where A ≫ 4. Thus
 
4
Tα = Q 1 − . (130)
A

Typically, alpha particles carries ∼ 98% of the Q value, with the much heavier nuclear fragment
X’ carrying the remaining 2%. The kinetic energy of the alpha particle can be measured directly
with a magnetic spherometer. So, the Q value of a decay can be determined.

5.3 Theory of Alpha Emission

The theory was developed in 1928 simultaneously by Gamow and by Gurney and Condon. This
quantum mechanical theory assumes alpha particle to move in a spherical region determined by
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Figure 21: Relative potential energy of alpha particle, daughter-nucleus system.

the daughter nucleus. The alpha particle is preformed inside the parent nucleus, rather alpha
particle behaves as if it were preformed. A representation of the theory is shown in Figure 21,
i.e. the potential energy between the alpha particle and residual nucleus for various distances
between their centres. The horizontal dotted line is disintegration energy (Q). The Coulomb
potential is extended inward to a radius a, and then arbitrarily cuts off. The radius a can be
taken as the sum of the radius of the residual nucleus and of the alpha particle. There are
basically three regions of interest;

1. In the spherical region r < a, is inside the nucleus and a potential well of depth -V◦ , where
V◦ is taken as a positive number. Classically, the alpha particle can move in this region,
with a kinetic energy Q + V◦ , but it cannot escape from it.

2. The annular shell region a < r < b, forms a potential barrier because the potential energy
is more than the total available energy Q. Classically, the alpha particle cannot enter this
region from either direction, i.e. the kinetic energy would have to be negative.

3. The region r > b, is a Classically permitted region outside the barrier.

Classically, an alpha particle in the spherical potential well would sharply reverse its motion
every time it tried to pass beyond r = a. However, in quantum mechanics, there is a chance
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of leakage or tunneling through such a barrier. The barrier accounts for the fact that alpha-
unstable nuclei do not decay immediately. The alpha particle within the nucleus must present
itself again and again at the barrier surface until it finally penetrates.

The barrier also operates in reverse, in the case of alpha particle scattering by the nuclei. Alpha
particles incident on the barrier from outside the nucleus, usually scatter in the Coulomb field
if the incident energy is well below the barrier height. Tunneling through the barrier, so that
the nuclear force between the particle and the target can cause nuclear reactions, is a relatively
improbable process at low energy.

The theoretical analysis of nuclear reactions induced by charged particles uses a formalism similar
to that of alpha decay to calculate the barrier penetration probability. Fusion reactions, such
as those responsible for energy release in stars, are also analysed using the barrier penetration
model. The disintegration constant of an alpha particle emitter is given in the one body theory
by
λ = f P, (131)

where f is the frequency with which the alpha particle presents itself at the barrier, and P is
the probability of transmission through the barrier. The frequency f is roughly of the order of
v/a, where is the relative velocity of the alpha particle inside the nucleus, which can be found
from the kinetic energy of the alpha particle for r < a. For a typical well depth, V◦ ≈ 35 MeV,
which gives f ≈ 6 × 1021 s−1 for Q ≈ 5 MeV.

The barrier penetration probability P must be obtained from quantum mechanical calculations,
similar to the one dimensional problem. The Coulomb barrier of Figure 21 has a height B at
r = a, given by
1 zZ ′ e2
B= , (132)
4πε◦ a
where alpha particle has a charge ze and the daughter nucleus (which provides the Coulomb
repulsion) has charge Z ′ e = (Z − z)e. The height of the barrier thus varies from (B − Q) above
the particle’s energy at r = a, to zero at r = b. So, the representative average is (B − Q)/2.
Similarly, we can choose a representative average width to be (b − a)/2.

The radius b at which the alpha particle leaves the barrier is obtained by equating the particle’s
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energy and the potential energy, i.e.

1 zZ ′ e2
b= . (133)
4πε◦ Q

For a typical case of a heavy nucleus with Q = 6 MeV, b ≈ 42 fm. Then,

P ≈ e−2k2 [ 2 (b−a)] ,
1
(134)
q
where k2 = (2m/~2 ) · 21 (B − Q), is a constant.

So far, a crude estimate has been given. The exact quantum mechanical calculation is very
similar. We can think of the Coulomb barrier as made up of a sequence of infinitesimal
rectangular barriers of height,

zZ ′ e2
V (r) = , and width dr. (135)
4πε◦ r

The probability to penetrate each infinitesimal barrier between r and r + dr is

h p i
dP = exp −2 (2m/~2 )(V (r) − Q) dr. (136)

The probability to penetrate the complete barrier is

P = e−2G , (137)

where, Z b
2m
G= 2 [V (r) − Q]1/2 dr, (138)
~ a

is the Gamow factor, which can be evaluated as

r
2m zZ ′ e2 h √ p i
G= arccos x − x(1 − x) , (139)
~2 Q 4πε◦
√
where x = a/b = Q/B. For x ≪ 1, the quantity in the squared brackets for G is ∼ π/2 − 2 x,
which is the case for most decays.