Possibility to synthesize Z=120 superheavy nuclei with Z > 20 projectiles

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 48Ca + 238U, 48Ca+244Pu, and 48Ca+248Cm. To synthesize a new element Z = 120, we predicted evaporation residue cross sections for four reaction systems (54Cr + 248Cm, 58Fe + 244Pu, 64Ni + 238U, and 50Ti + 249Cf) 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 54Cr+248Cm 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 54Cr + 248Cm 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.

Automated summary

Evaporation residue cross sections for heavy-ion fusion reactions were calculated using the dinuclear system model combined with the statistical model. The calculated results reproduced the experimental trends of various 3n and 4n channel cross sections. The 54Cr + 248Cm reaction was found to be the optimal choice for synthesizing superheavy nuclei with maximum cross sections of 17.58 and 1.09 fb in the 3n and 4n channels, respectively. However, the predicted cross sections for the 54Cr + 248Cm reaction channel are below the detectable limit of currently available facilities, requiring improvements in beam intensities, detection techniques, and efficient separation.