https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06024-6
Regular Article
Angular momentum dependence of nuclear decay of radon isotopes by emission of 
C nuclei and branching ratio relative to 
-decay
1
The Research Centre of Nuclear Science and Technology (RCNST), Institute of Geological and Mining Research, P.O. Box 4110, Yaounde, Cameroon
2
Laboratory of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde I, P.O. Box 812, Yaounde, Cameroon
3
Centre for Atomic, Molecular Physics and Quantum Optics, University of Douala, P.O. Box 8580, Douala, Cameroon
Received:
23
October
2024
Accepted:
13
January
2025
Published online:
6
February
2025
This study aims to provide new insights into the angular momentum dependence of C-decay. To achieve this, we perform a systematic analysis of the radioactive decay of radon isotopes via C cluster emission, employing the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation and introducing the screened Kratzer–Morse potential as an innovative nuclear potential. While the C emission from radon isotopes has not yet been identified experimentally, our study extends the classical theory of -decay to predict half-lives and branching ratios for C-decay in radon isotopes 
Rn. The results of this work indicate that low angular momentum states favor C emission, and the predicted half-lives are consistent with previous theoretical studies. On the other hand, the calculation of branching ratio relative to 
decay allowed us to quantify the probability of C-decay channel for different values of l. The branching ratios suggest that radon isotopes belonging to the naturally occurring radioactive series are the most favorable regarding C emission, especially the 
Rn, which is prime candidate for potential experimental detection of C emission. Due to limited experimental data on C emission from radon isotopes, to validate our model we extended our calculations to other cluster decays with available half-lives, including C, 
O, 
Ne, 
Mg, and 
Si emissions from heavy nuclei. Our predicted half-lives values for cluster emission are validated by experimental data, especially for low angular momentum values.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
