抄録
In April and May of 1999 the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator was used to search for the production and decay of element 118 from the 86Kr + 208Pb reaction, according to Smolañczuk's predictions of relatively large production rates. Three decay chains, each consisting of an implanted heavy ion, followed by a rapid (ms) succession of high-energy (> 10 MeV) alpha-particle decays were detected. These chains are consistent with the production and decay of element 118 with mass number 293. These results a) show experimental evidence for the existence of shell-stabilized superheavy elements, b) provide experimental values for refinement of nuclear mass models in the superheavy element region, and, most importantly, c) present a “new” reaction pathway for the production of superheavy elements.
