48Ca+249Bk Fusion Reaction Leading to Element Z=117: Long-Lived α-Decaying 270Db and Discovery of 266Lr

The superheavy element with atomic number Z=117 was produced as an evaporation residue in the 48Ca+249Bk fusion reaction at the gas-filled recoil separator TASCA at GSI Darmstadt, Germany. The radioactive decay of evaporation residues and their α-decay products was studied using a detection setup that allowed measuring decays of single atomic nuclei with half-lives between sub-μs and a few days. Two decay chains comprising seven α decays and a spontaneous fission each were identified and are assigned to the isotope 294-117 and its decay products. A hitherto unknown α-decay branch in 270Db (Z=105) was observed, which populated the new isotope 266Lr (Z=103). The identification of the long-lived (T1/2=1.0+1.9−0.4 h) α-emitter 270Db marks an important step towards the observation of even more long-lived nuclei of superheavy elements located on an “island of stability.” (Less)