Improvement of the target durability for heavy-element production

The search for new elements with reaction cross-sections in the picobarn-region makes it necessary to enhance the beam intensity on the target in order to reduce the required beam time to a reasonable length. To synthesise heavy elements with the SHIP set-up, one mostly uses the heaviest stable elements available as target material, e.g. lead and bismuth. At the moment, the intensity that could be brought on the targets is limited by the low melting temperatures of Pb with 327.5degreesC and Bi with 271.3degreesC. To enhance the lifetime of the targets. we work on three different approaches: reduction of the thermal stress, increase in the melting temperature, and active cooling. We report on the first results, plans and future perspectives. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.