The results of two experiments designed to synthesize element 115 isotopes in the 243 Am + 48 Ca reaction are presented. Two new elements with atomic numbers 113 and 115 were observed for the first time. With 248-MeV 48 Ca projectiles, we observed three similar decay chains consisting of five consecutive α decays, all detected in a total time interval of 30 s. Each chain was terminated by a spontaneous fission (SF) with a high-energy release and a lifetime of about a day. With 253-MeV 48 Ca projectiles, we registered a different decay chain of consecutive α decays detected in a time interval of 0.5 s, also terminated by spontaneous fission, but after 1.8 h. The decay properties of the eleven new αand SF-decaying nuclei are consistent with expectations for consecutive α decays originating from the parent isotopes 288 115 and 287 115, produced in the 3n-and 4n-evaporation channels, respectively. Support for the assignment of the atomic numbers of all of the nuclei in the 288 115 decay chain was obtained in an independent experiment in which a long-lived spontaneous fission activity, 268 Db (15 events), was found to be chemically consistent with the fifth group of the periodic table. The odd-odd isotope 288 115 was observed with largest cross section of about 4 pb. In the SF decay of 268 Db, a total kinetic energy of 230 MeV and a neutron multiplicity per fission of 4.2 were measured. The decay properties of the 11 new isotopes with Z = 105-115 and the production cross sections are in agreement with modern concepts of the role of nuclear shells in the stability of superheavy nuclei. The experiments were carried out at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

The β-delayed neutron emission probabilities of neutron rich Hg and Tl nuclei have been measured together with β-decay half-lives for 20 isotopes of Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, and Bi in the mass region N≳126. These are the heaviest species where neutron emission has been observed so far. These measurements provide key information to evaluate the performance of nuclear microscopic and phenomenological models in reproducing the high-energy part of the β-decay strength distribution. This provides important constraints on global theoretical models currently used in r-process nucleosynthesis.

BRIKEN is a complex detection system to be installed at the RIB-facility of the RIKEN Nishina Center. It is aimed at the detection of heavy-ion implants, β-particles, γ-rays and β-delayed neutrons. The whole detection setup involves the Advanced Implantation Detection Array (AIDA), two HPGe Clover detectors and a large set of 166 counters of 3He embedded in a high-density polyethylene matrix. This article reports on a novel methodology developed for the conceptual design and optimisation of the 3He-tubes array, aiming at the best possible performance in terms of neutron detection. The algorithm is based on a geometric representation of two selected parameters of merit, namely, average neutron detection efficiency and efficiency flatness, as a function of a reduced number of geometric variables. The response of the detection system itself, for each configuration, is obtained from a systematic MC-simulation implemented realistically in Geant4. This approach has been found to be particularly useful. On the one hand, due to the different types and large number of 3He-tubes involved and, on the other hand, due to the additional constraints introduced by the ancillary detectors for charged particles and gamma-rays. Empowered by the robustness of the algorithm, we have been able to design a versatile detection system, which can be easily re-arranged into a compact mode in order to maximize the neutron detection performance, at the cost of the gamma-ray sensitivity. In summary, we have designed a system which shows, for neutron energies up to 1(5) MeV, a rather flat and high average efficiency of 68.6%(64%) and 75.7%(71%) for the hybrid and compact modes, respectively. The performance of the BRIKEN system has been also quantified realistically by means of MC-simulations made with different neutron energy distributions. *

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