Observation of new neutron-deficient isotopes with Z≥92 in multinucleon transfer reactions

Abstract In deep inelastic multinucleon transfer reactions of 48 Ca + 248 Cm we observed about 100 residual nuclei with proton numbers between Z = 82 and Z = 100 . Among them, there are five new neutron-deficient isotopes: 216 U, 219 Np, 223 Am, 229 Am and 233 Bk. As separator for the transfer products we used the velocity filter SHIP of GSI while the isotope identification was performed via the α decay chains of the nuclei. These first results reveal that multinucleon transfer reactions together with here applied fast and sensitive separation and detection techniques are promising for the synthesis of new isotopes in the region of heaviest nuclei.