Dedicated $Δ$E-E detector system for searching long lived heaviest nuclei deposited in scintillators

Abstract

We present a dedicated experimental setup which is currently used to search for long lived super heavy elements (SHE) implanted in catcher scintillators which were irradiated by reaction products of $^{197}$Au (7.5 A.MeV) projectile and $^{232}$Th target collisions during our experiment performed at Cyclotrone Institute, Texas A$\&$M University in 2015. The built-in novel measuring apparatus consists of $Δ$E-E detector pairs which are able to register $α$ or spontaneous fission (SF) decays of heavy reaction products deposited in the scintillators. Their unique feature is that the examined scintillators are at the same time $Δ$E part of each of $Δ$E-E detector while E part is a silicon detector. Our apparatus is dedicated to search for SHEs which have a lifetime of a year till tens of years. Results of commissioning tests of our setup are presented.

6 pages, 3 figures, presented at Zakopane Conference on Nulear Physics 2018, submitted to Acta Physica Polonica B