Element 104 identified by characteristic x rays
DOI: 10.1063/1.3128226
A research team at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has recently announced that they have conclusively identified the 257 isotope of element 104. This new work shows promise of shedding light on the controversy between Albert Ghiorso and Georgi N. Flerov, the leaders respectively of the groups at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna. The isotope 104X257 decays by alpha emission to 102No253 with a half‐life of 4.3 seconds. The Oak Ridge group observed the K‐series x rays from nobelium in coincidence with the alpha particles from 104X257; the observation of x‐ray spectra has never been reported previously by the Berkeley or Dubna workers, according to Curtis E. Bemis Jr, spokesman for the group.
