Luis Sarmiento Pico
Senior lecturer
Spectroscopy along flerovium decay chains: Discovery of 280Ds and an excited state in 282Cn
Author
Summary, in English
A nuclear spectroscopy experiment was conducted to study α-decay chains stemming from isotopes of flerovium (element Z=114). An upgraded TASISpec decay station was placed behind the gas-filled separator TASCA at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany. The fusion-evaporation reactions 48Ca+242Pu and 48Ca+244Pu provided a total of 32 flerovium-candidate decay chains, of which two and eleven were firmly assigned to 286Fl and 288Fl, respectively. A prompt coincidence between a 9.60(1)-MeV α-particle event and a 0.36(1)-MeV conversion electron marked the first observation of an excited state in an even-even isotope of the heaviest man-made elements, namely 282Cn. Spectroscopy of 288Fl decay chains fixed Qα=10.06(1) MeV. In one case, a Qα=9.46(1)-MeV decay from 284Cn into 280Ds was observed, with 280Ds fissioning after only 518 μs. The impact of these findings, aggregated with existing data on decay chains of 286,288Fl, on the size of an anticipated shell gap at proton number Z=114 is discussed in light of predictions from two beyond-mean-field calculations, which take into account triaxial deformation.
Department/s
- Nuclear physics
- Mathematical Physics
Publishing year
2021-01-22
Language
English
Publication/Series
Physical Review Letters
Volume
126
Issue
3
Full text
- Available as PDF - 324 kB
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
American Physical Society
Topic
- Subatomic Physics
Keywords
- Superheavy elements
- Nuclear spectroscopy
- Alpha decay
- Mean field theory
- Island of stability
Status
Published
Project
- Spectroscopy along Decay Chains of Element 114, Flerovium
- Nuclear Structure at the Limits: Isotope-selective Spectroscopy
- Characterization of New Superheavy Elements
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1079-7114