On HRS, post-accelerated ⁶⁶Ni beams were sent to the Scattering Experiment Chamber on the third HIE-ISOLDE beam line. This was the final HIE-ISOLDE run of the year. The aim was to study quasi-fusion and fusion reactions of ⁶⁶Ni on a ²³⁸U target, forming a compound state with Z = 120 protons, which is predicted to lie in the so-called island of stability for superheavy nuclei. This region is normally out of reach at ISOLDE and the goal was not to produce such nuclei, since the cross section is extremely small and would require months or even years of beam time. Instead, the idea was to study the decays following quasi-fusion and fusion and use these to infer properties of the briefly formed Z = 120 compound state, which exists for less than E-20 seconds. The experiment started well, although they struggled with low count rates. After the power cut, only stable 58Ni beam was available, but they continued regardless since this was the first time their setup had been used and it allowed them to collect valuable benchmark data. Thanks to everyone who worked over the weekend to get beam back for them.
- Date for review not on Tuesday 16/12