Toward 100Sn:: Studies of excitation functions for the reaction between 58Ni and 54Fe ions

Production of nuclei above Sn-100 in fusion-evaporation reactions between Ni-58 and Fe-54 ions was studied at Oak Ridge National Laboratory by means of the recoil mass spectrometer and charged particle detection. The beam energy was varied to optimize the yields for the two-, three- and four- particle evaporation channels. Experimental results verified the predictions of the statistical model code HIVAP. The optimum energy for the Fe-54(Ni-58, 4n)Xe-108 reaction channel that allows one to study the Xe-108-Te-104-Sn-100 alpha decay chain is deduced as 240 MeV.