Search for superheavy elements with292⩽A⩽310in nature with accelerator mass spectrometry

Abstract

There is a possibility that small traces of long-lived superheavy elements ($Z\ensuremath{\geqslant}104$) still exist in nature. An ultrasensitive search for such superheavy elements has been conducted at the Maier-Leibnitz Laboratory in Garching (Germany) by means of accelerator mass spectrometry. A sample of raw platinum has been scanned for 13 different masses in the range $292\ensuremath{\leqslant}A\ensuremath{\leqslant}310$. The masses $A=292$ and 298 were scanned in pure osmium and pure lead fluoride, respectively. For each mass, several hours of background-free data were recorded. Since no events could be attributed to superheavy elements, upper limits on their abundances in the sample materials on the order of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}14}$--${10}^{\ensuremath{-}16}$ were established.