Experiments on synthesis of the heaviest element at RIKEN

Morita, Kosuke*; Morimoto, Koji*; Kaji, Daiya*; Akiyama, Takahiro*; Goto, Shinichi*; Haba, Hiromitsu*; Ideguchi, Eiji*; Kanungo, R.*; Katori, Kenji*; Kikunaga, Hidetoshi*; Koura, Hiroyuki   ; Kudo, Hisaaki*; Onishi, Tetsuya*; Ozawa, Akira*; Sato, Nozomi*; Suda, Toshimi*; Sueki, Keisuke*; Tokanai, Fuyuki*; Xu, H.*; Yamaguchi, Takayuki*; Yoneda, Akira*; Yoshida, Atsushi*; Zhao, Y. L.*

A series of experiments studying the productions and their decays of the heaviest elements have been performed by using a gas-filled recoil separator GARIS at RIKEN. Results on the isotope of the 112th element, 112, and on that of the 113th element, 113, are reviewed. Two decay chains which are assigned to be ones originating from the isotope 112 were observed in the Pb(Zn, n) reaction. The results provide a confirmation of the production and decay of the isotope 112 reported by a research group at GSI, Germany, produced via the same reaction by using a velocity filter. Two decay chains, both consisted of four consecutive alpha decays followed by a spontaneous fission, were observed also in the reaction Bi(Zn, n). Those are assigned to be the convincing candidate events of the isotope of the 113th element, 113, and its daughter nuclei. Rg, Mt, Bh, and Db.