Overview: History and perspective of the search for superheavy elements
Abstract
Theoretical studies have been paralleled by experimental programs concerning searches for superheavy elements. Searches using heavy ion reactions have culminated in investigations of the reaction Cm(248) + Ca(48). Spontaneous fission is most often used for the searches in nature and at accelerators because of the extreme sensitivity it allows for detection. Many kinds of samples have been counted. Some possible signs of a superheavy element were Allende meteorite. Alpha activities not corresponding to known nuclides were also reported. Although to date no superheavy elements have been discovered, the possibilities still appear strong; and the motivation generated by the search is resulting in definite advances in the techniques of theory and experiment. Perhaps the most notable of these is the development of apparatus to allow the use of synchrotron radiation to excite X-ray fluorescence for an identification.
- Publication:
-
Presented at the Symp. on Superheavy Elem
- Pub Date:
- 1978
- Bibcode:
- 1978suel.symp.....K
- Keywords:
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- Heavy Elements;
- Heavy Ions;
- Ionic Reactions;
- Alpha Particles;
- Calcium Isotopes;
- Curium Isotopes;
- Meteoritic Composition;
- Nuclides;
- Synchrotron Radiation;
- X Ray Fluorescence;
- Atomic and Molecular Physics