Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has achieved a significant breakthrough in the fabrication of superheavy elements. An international team of researchers has successfully created element 116, known as livermium, using a beam of titanium-50. This achievement marks a crucial step toward the possible creation of element 120, which would be the heaviest atom discovered to date.
Element 116 manufacturing process
Fabrication of this element, a superheavy element, required 22 days of continuous operation in the laboratory’s 88-inch cyclotron. This process demonstrated that a titanium-50 beam can be effective in producing elements close to the so-called “island of stability,” a theoretical region of the chemical element table where atomic nuclei could be more stable and, therefore, easier to study.
Jacklyn Gates, a nuclear scientist at the laboratory, highlighted the importance of this breakthrough:
The creation of a new element is extremely rare. This success gives us confidence to pursue the manufacture of element 120.
According to estimates, producing element 120 could take up to ten times longer than livermory, but the researchers are optimistic.
This achievement prepares the team to attempt to fabricate element 120, the heaviest element to date. Source: Berkeley Lab via YouTube
Element 120: The new target for 2025
Research advances knowledge of atomic boundaries, and tests current models of nuclear physics. nuclear physics. Element 120, if discovered, would occupy a prominent place in the eighth row with the halogens, providing new challenges and opportunities for science .
Physics seems to make it feasible, and we are now ready to undertake this challenging experiment.
Reiner Kruecken, director of Berkeley Lab’s Nuclear Science Division, explained.
Attempts to manufacture element 120 are expected to begin in 2025, and the first results, although limited, could appear in the next few years.
This breakthrough underscores the laboratory’s commitment to scientific exploration and scientific exploration at the limits of the periodic table, continuing its legacy of discoveries in superheavy elements, in collaboration with institutions around the world.
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Source and photo: Berkeley Lab
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