An isotope of the 113th element, i.e., 278 113, was produced in a nuclear reaction with a 70 Zn beam on a 209 Bi target. We observed six consecutive decays following the implantation of a heavy particle in nearly the same position in the semiconductor detector under an extremely low background condition. The fifth and sixth decays are fully consistent with the sequential decays of 262 Db and 258 Lr in both decay energies and decay times. This indicates that the present decay chain consisted of 278 113, 274 Rg (Z 111), 270 Mt (Z 109), 266 Bh (Z 107), 262 Db (Z 105), and 258 Lr (Z 103) with firm connections. This result, together with previously reported results from 2004 and 2007, conclusively leads to the unambiguous production and identification of the isotope 278 113 of the 113th element.

The projectile fragmentation reactions of 40 Ar at 57 MeV/nucleon on 9 Be and 181 Ta targets have been studied by the Radioactive Ion Beam Line in Lanzhou (RIBLL) at the Heavy-Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL). The momentum distributions of fragments have been measured and the competition between different mechanisms are observed. The production cross sections have been obtained and compared with the empirical parametrization of fragmentation cross section (EPAX), abrasion-ablation (AA), and heavy-ion phase space exploration (HIPSE) models, and the target dependence of fragment cross sections has also been discussed.

No abstract