Article Synopsis
- - The experiment at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory aimed to produce a superheavy element with an atomic number of 114 or greater by bombarding an actinide target with a ^{50}Ti beam.
- - Using the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator, researchers successfully isolated and implanted produced Livermorium (Lv) ions into a high-tech detector system, observing two decay chains linked to ^{290}Lv.
- - The measured production cross-section of the process was 0.44 picobarns at a specific energy, marking the first published evidence of superheavy element production near the "island of stability" with this method, paving the way for future discoveries beyond element Z=118.
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Article Abstract
The ^{244}Pu(^{50}Ti,xn)^{294-x}Lv 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 ^{48}Ca. 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 ^{290}Lv. The production cross section was measured to be σ_{prod}=0.44(_{-0.28}^{+0.58}) 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 ^{50}Ti and is an essential precursor in the pursuit of searching for new elements beyond Z=118.
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