Microscopic description of the α-decay fine structure in spherical nuclei

We give a systematic microscopic description of the α decay to excited states in spherical nuclei. Low-lying collective excitations are considered within the quasiparticle random phase approximation. As a residual force we use the surface delta interaction. It turns out that this simple approach is able to reproduce the available experimental hindrance factors for transitions to 2⁺ states in Po isotopes. We predict a linear dependence between the logarithm of the hindrance factor and the excitation energy of the 2⁺ state.