Toward the Discovery of New Elements: Production of Livermorium (Z=116) with ⁵⁰Ti

Summary, in English

The ²⁴⁴Pu(⁵⁰Ti,xn)^294−xLv reaction was investigated at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 88-Inch Cyclotron. The experiment was aimed at the production of a superheavy element with Z ≥ 114 by irradiating an actinide target with a beam heavier than ⁴⁸Ca. Produced Lv ions were separated from the unwanted beam and nuclear reaction products using the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator and implanted into a newly commissioned focal-plane detector system. Two decay chains were observed and assigned to the decay of ²⁹⁰Lv. The production cross section was measured to be σ_prod =0.44+0.58−0.28 pb at a center-of target center-of-mass energy of 220(3) MeV. This represents the first published measurement of the production of a superheavy element near the “island of stability,” with a beam of ⁵⁰Ti and is an essential precursor in the pursuit of searching for new elements beyond Z = 118.

• Author: J. M. Gates; R. Orford; D. Rudolph; C. Appleton; B. M. Barrios; J. Y. Benitez; M. Bordeau; W. Botha; C. M. Campbell; J. Chadderton; A. T. Chemey; R. M. Clark; H. L. Crawford; J. D. Despotopulos; O. Dorvaux; N. E. Esker; P. Fallon; C. M. Folden; B. J. P. Gall; F. H. Garcia; P. Golubev; J. A. Gooding; M. Grebo; K. E. Gregorich; M. Guerrero; R. A. Henderson; R. -D. Herzberg; Y. Hrabar; T. T. King; M. Kireeff Covo; A. S. Kirkland; R. Krücken; E. Leistenschneider; E. M. Lykiardopoulou; M. McCarthy; J. A. Mildon; C. Müller-Gatermann; L. Phair; J. L. Pore; E. Rice; K. P. Rykaczewski; B. N. Sammis; L. G. Sarmiento; D Seweryniak; D. K. Sharp; A. Sinjari; P. Steinegger; M. A. Stoyer; J. M. Szornel; K. Thomas; D. S. Todd; P. Vo; V. Watson; P. T. Wooddy
• Department/s: Particle and nuclear physics
• Publishing year: 2024-10-21
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: Physical Review Letters
• Volume: 133
• Issue: 17
• Full text: - 484 kB; - 106 kB; Download statistics
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.172502
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Topic: Subatomic Physics
• Keywords: Synthesis of new superheavy elements; Fusion evaporation reactions; Nuclear reactions; Nuclear physics
• Status: Published
• Project: Nuclear Structure at the Limits: Isotope-selective Spectroscopy; Characterization of New Superheavy Elements; Heavy Element Research at LBNL 88-Inch Cyclotron; Superheavy Element Research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1079-7114