Observation of the 3n Evaporation Channel in the Complete Hot-Fusion Reaction {sup 26}Mg+{sup 248}Cm Leading to the New Superheavy Nuclide {sup 271}Hs

The analysis of a large body of heavy ion fusion reaction data with medium-heavy projectiles (6{<=}Z{<=}18) and actinide targets suggests a disappearance of the 3n exit channel with increasing atomic number of the projectile. Here, we report a measurement of the excitation function of the reaction {sup 248}Cm({sup 26}Mg,xn){sup 274-x}Hs and the observation of the new nuclide {sup 271}Hs produced in the 3n evaporation channel at a beam energy well below the Bass fusion barrier with a cross section comparable to the maxima of the 4n and 5n channels. This indicates the possible discovery of new neutron-rich transactinide nuclei using relatively light heavy ion beams of the most neutron-rich stable isotopes and actinide targets.