Potential energy surfaces of Polonium isotopes

The evolution of the potential energy landscape is analysed in detail for ten even–even polonium isotopes in the mass range 188 < A < 220 as obtained within the macroscopic–microscopic approach, relying on the Lublin–Strasbourg drop model and the Yukawa-folded single-particle energies for calculating the microscopic shell and pairing corrections. A variant of the modified Funny–Hills nuclear shape parametrization is used to efficiently map possible fission paths. The approach explains the main features of the fragment partition as measured in low-energy fission along the polonium chain. The latter lies in a transitional region of the nuclear chart, and will be essential to consistently understand the evolution of fission properties from neutron-deficient mercury to heavy actinides. The ability of our method to predict fission observables over such an extended region looks promising.