Possibility to synthesize <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Z</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>120</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math> superheavy nuclei with <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Z</mml:mi><mml:mo>></mml:mo><mml:mn>20</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math> projectiles
S. H. Zhu, Xiao Jun Bao
Abstract
Evaporation residue cross sections (ERCSs) for heavy-ion fusion reactions are calculated by using the dinuclear system model combined with the statistical model. The calculated results reproduce well the experimental trends of the $3n$ and $4n$ channel cross sections of $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}+^{238}\mathrm{U}$, $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}+^{244}\mathrm{Pu}$, and $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}+^{248}\mathrm{Cm}$. To synthesize a new element $Z=120$, we predicted evaporation residue cross sections for four reaction systems $(^{54}\mathrm{Cr}+^{248}\mathrm{Cm},$ $^{58}\mathrm{Fe}+^{244}\mathrm{Pu},$ $^{64}\mathrm{Ni}+^{238}\mathrm{U}, \mathrm{and} ^{50}\mathrm{Ti}+^{249}\mathrm{Cf})$ to select the most promising projectile-target combinations. From detailed analysis of the evaporation residue cross section of synthetic superheavy nuclei, we found that the $^{54}\mathrm{Cr}+^{248}\mathrm{Cm}$ reaction is optimal and the maximum cross sections of the $3n$ and $4n$ channels are 17.58 and 1.09 fb. However, we also noticed that the ERCSs for the $^{54}\mathrm{Cr}+^{248}\mathrm{Cm}$ reaction channel predicted by our model and various other approaches are all in the range of a few femtobarns, which appears to be below the detectable limit of the currently available facilities. Thus, an increase of beam intensities, detection techniques, and efficient separation are needed to synthesize $Z=120$ superheavy nuclei.