Production of neutron-rich N = 126 nuclei in multinucleon transfer reactions: Comparison between 136Xe + 198Pt and 238U + 198Pt reactions

Abstract The production cross sections for primary and residual fragments produced in two reaction systems 136Xe + 198Pt and 238U + 198Pt at incident energy 8 MeV/nucleon are calculated by improved quantum molecular dynamics (ImQMD) model incorporated with the statistical evaporation model (HIVAP code). It is found that the cross sections for n-rich N = 126 residual fragments are several times larger in 238U + 198 Pt than in 136Xe + 198 Pt due to the larger cross sections and lower excitation energies of primary fragments in 238U induced reactions. In both systems, N = 126 semi-magic residues are produced via neutron emission in the decay of primary fragments, which survive in the semi-central collisions and have lower excitation energies.