A. A. Voinov

Determination of the electromagnetic character of soft dipole modes solely based on quasicontinuous γ spectroscopy

Abstract We show that the combined analysis of quasicontinuous γ spectra from the ( 3 He , α ) and (nth,2γ) reactions gives the possibility to measure the electromagnetic character of soft dipole resonances. Two-step γ-cascade spectra have been calculated, using level densities and radiative strength functions from the ( 3 He , αγ ) reaction. The calculations show that the intensity of the two-step cascades depends on the electromagnetic character of the soft dipole resonance under study. The difference reaches 40–100% which can be measured experimentally.

Method of active correlations: Present status

During the recent years, at the FLNR (JINR) a successful cycle of experiments has been accomplished on the synthesis of the superheavy elements with Z=112–118 with 48Ca beam. From the viewpoint of the detection of rare decays and background suppression, this success was achieved due to the application of a new radical technique - the method of active correlations. The method employs search in a real-time mode for a pointer to a probable correlation like recoil-alpha for switching the beam off. In the case of detection in the same detector strip an additional alpha-decay event, of “beam OFF” time interval is prolonged automatically. Reasonable scenarios of developing the method are considered. PC based data acquisition system as well as the monitoring and control system of the Dubna Gas Filled Recoil Separator is considered in brief too.

Synthesis of Superheavy Nuclei in 48Ca-Induced Reactions

neutron-rich isotopes 242,244 Pu, 243 Am, 245,248 Cm and 249 Cf with 48 Ca projectiles. The decay properties of the synthesized nuclei are consistent with the consecutive α-decays originating in the decays of parent nuclides 286,287,288,289 114, 287,288 115, 290,291,293 116 and 294 118 produced in the 2n- to 5n-evaporation channels. The present observations can be considered to be experimental evidence of the existence of the “island of stability” of superheavy elements.

Production and decay of the heaviest odd-Z nuclei in the 249Bk + 48Ca reaction

The reaction of 249Bk with 48Ca has been investigated with an aim of synthesizing and studying the decay properties of isotopes of the new element 117. The experiments were performed at five projectile energies (in two runs, in 2009-2010 and 2012) and with a total beam dose of 48Ca ions of about 9x1019 The experiments yielded data on a-decay characteristics and excitation functions of the produced nuclei that establish these to be 293117 and 294117 – the products of the 4n- and 3n-evaporation channels, respectively. In total, we have observed 20 decay chains of Z=117 nuclides. The cross sections were measured to be 1.1 pb for the 3n and 2.4 pb for the 4n-reaction channel. The new 289115 events, populated by α decay of 117, demonstrate the same decay properties as those observed for 115 produced in the 243Am(48Ca,2n) reaction thus providing cross-bombardment evidence. In addition, a single decay of 294118 was observed from the reaction with 249Cf – a result of the in-growth of 249Cf in the 249Bk target. The observed decay chain of 294118 is in good agreement with decay properties obtained in 2002-2005 in the experiments with the reaction 249Cf(48Ca,3n)294118. The energies and half-lives of the odd-Z isotopes observed in the 117 decay chains together with the results obtained for lower-Z superheavy nuclei demonstrate enhancement of nuclear stability with increasing neutron number towards the predicted new magic number N=184.

New data from the 243Am + 48Ca reaction give cross-bombardment verification of elements 113, 115 and 117

The reaction 243Am + 48Ca has been reinvestigated to provide new evidence for the discovery of elements 113, 115. Twenty eight new 288115 decay chains were detected in this reaction to increase from three to 31 the number of 288115 atoms observed. In addition, four new decay chains were observed for the first time and assigned to the decay of 289115. These new 289115 events have the same properties for their decay chains as those observed for 289115 populated in the alpha decay of 293117 produced in the 249Bk + 48Ca reaction to provide cross-bombardment evidence. These new high statistics data sets and the cross-bombardment agreement provide definitive evidence for the discoveries of the new elements with Z = 113, 115, 117.

Synthesis of the New Element with Z=117

The synthesis of the new chemical element with atomic number Z=117 is presented. The isotopes 293117 and 294117were produced in fusion reactions between 48Ca and 249Bk. The 249Bk was produced in the High Flux Isotope Reactor and chemically separated at Oak Ridge. Decay chains involving eleven new nuclei were identified by means of the Dubna Gas Filled Recoil Separator. The measured decay properties show a strong rise of stability for super-heavy nuclei toward N=184.

Synthesis of the isotopes of elements 118 and 116 in the {sup 249}Cf and {sup 245}Cm+{sup 48}Ca fusion reactions

The decay properties of {sup 290}116 and {sup 291}116, and the dependence of their production cross sections on the excitation energies of the compound nucleus, {sup 293}116, have been measured in the {sup 245}Cm ({sup 48}Ca, xn){sup 293-x}116 reaction. These isotopes of element 116 are the decay daughters of element 118 isotopes, which are produced via the {sup 249}Cf+{sup 48}Ca reaction. We performed the element 118 experiment at two projectile energies, corresponding to {sup 297}118 compound nucleus excitation energies of E*=29.2{+-}2.5 and 34.4{+-}2.3 MeV. During an irradiation with a total beam dose of 4.1x10{sup 19} {sup 48}Ca projectiles, three similar decay chains consisting of two or three consecutive {alpha} decays and terminated by a spontaneous fission (SF) with high total kinetic energy of about 230 MeV were observed. The three decay chains originated from the even-even isotope {sup 294}118 (E{sub {alpha}}=11.65{+-}0.06 MeV, T{sub {alpha}}=0.89{sub -0.31}{sup +1.07} ms) produced in the 3n-evaporation channel of the {sup 249}Cf+{sup 48}Ca reaction with a maximum cross section of 0.5{sub -0.3}{sup +1.6} pb.

DSSSD based spectrometer of the dubna gas-filled recoil separator to search for ER-alpha sequences in a real-time

Recently, in the DGFRS related experiments the discoveries of new superheavy elements Z=114-118 were successfully performed. As concerns to a background radical suppression in those experiments it was namely “active correlations” method which was applied to this goal. Note, that application of DSSSD detector allows one to apply this method more effectively, although with some difficulties due to neighbor strips edge effects. Present version of the DGFRS spectrometer is presented. First results of its application in the 240Pu+48Ca→Fl∗ complete fusion nuclear reaction are presented too.

Study of neutron-deficient isotopes of Fl in the239Pu,240Pu +48Ca reactions

The results of the experiments aimed at the synthesis of Fl isotopes in the 239Pu + 48Ca and 240Pu + 48Ca reactions are presented. The experiment was performed using the Dubna gas-filled recoil separator at the U400 cyclotron. In the 239Pu+48Ca experiment one decay of spontaneously fissioning 284Fl was detected at 245-MeV beam energy. In the 240Pu+48Ca experiment three decay chains of 285Fl were detected at 245 MeV and four decays were assigned to 284Fl at the higher 48Ca beam energy of 250 MeV. The α-decay energy of 285Fl was measured for the first time and decay properties of its descendants 281Cn, 277Ds, 273Hs, 269Sg, and 265Rf were determined more precisely. The cross section of the 239Pu(48Ca,3n)284Fl reaction was observed to be about 20 times lower than those predicted by theoretical models and 50 times less than the value measured in the 244Pu+48Ca reaction. The cross sections of the 240Pu(48Ca,4-3n)284,285Fl at both 48Ca energies are similar and exceed that observed in the reaction with lighter isotope 239Pu by a factor of 10. The decay properties of the synthesized nuclei and their production cross sections indicate rapid decrease of stability of superheavy nuclei with departing from the neutron number N=184 predicted to be the next magic number.

Attempt to produce element 120 in the {sup 244}Pu+{sup 58}Fe reaction

An experiment aimed at the synthesis of isotopes of element 120 has been performed using the {sup 244}Pu({sup 58}Fe,xn){sup 302-x} 120 reaction. No decay chains consistent with fusion-evaporation reaction products were observed during an irradiation with a beam dose of 7.1 x 10{sup 18} 330-MeV {sup 58}Fe projectiles. The sensitivity of the experiment corresponds to a cross section of 0.4 pb for the detection of one decay.