Particle stability of the isotopes 26O and 32Ne in the reaction 44 MeV/nucleon 48Ca+Ta.

An attempt has been made to synthesize the extremely neutron-rich isotope $^{26}\mathrm{O}$ in the nuclear reaction 44 MeV/nucleon $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$+n/rTa. Use was made of magnetic separation and identification methods including time-of-flight and \ensuremath{\Delta}E,E measurements. The $^{26}\mathrm{O}$ nucleus appears to be unstable against particle emission since no events attributable to the $^{26}\mathrm{O}$ nucleus were observed at a level one order of magnitude lower than that predicted from the extrapolated yields. The previously unobserved isotope $^{32}\mathrm{Ne}$ was found to be particle stable and the isotope $^{31}\mathrm{Ne}$ particle unstable. Neutron-separation energies calculated with different models are tabulated.