China ditches calcium in nuclear fusion race to discover new elements

Researchers at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China have developed a novel method for synthesizing superheavy elements beyond uranium using argon-40 (⁴⁰Ar) beams instead of the conventionally used calcium-48 (⁴⁸Ca). Superheavy elements, which have atomic numbers greater than 104, are typically unstable and synthesized in laboratories through fusion reactions involving heavy target nuclei and lighter ion beams. The traditional use of ⁴⁸Ca beams, favored for their high neutron numbers and favorable reaction dynamics, is costly due to the rarity of ⁴⁸Ca, limiting the production of many superheavy nuclei. The new approach proposes bombarding synthetic radioactive berkelium (²⁴⁹Bk) with ⁴⁰Ar to produce isotopes like 286Mc, which is key to the alpha decay chain of the yet-undiscovered element 119. Theoretical models indicate that ⁴⁰Ar offers better fusion probabilities and favorable