The Heavy Element research program is centered on studying the nuclear and chemical properties of the heaviest elements with Z≥100. These elements do not exist naturally here on Earth and must be made in particle accelerators. Our research is primarily carried out at our local facility, the 88-Inch Cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab where we have the capabilities to make and then study these rare heavy elements.
At the 88-Inch Cyclotron, we harness a suite of cutting-edge, custom-built instruments to explore the rarest elements in the universe. The Berkeley Gas-filled Separator helps us isolate fleeting superheavy atoms, while the FIONA mass analyzer precisely measures their identities. Our spectroscopy stations reveal nuclear structures, and the new AETHER device pushes the limits of high-precision mass measurements. Together, these tools allow us to probe the fundamental properties of the heaviest elements, expanding our understanding of matter at the edge of the periodic table.
Our team unites staff scientists and postdocs from Berkeley Lab with graduate and undergraduate students from UC Berkeley and San Jose State University, creating a group of researchers with expertise in physics, chemistry, engineering, and computer science. Together, we tackle the challenges of discovering and studying superheavy elements from every angle. By collaborating with scientists across the U.S. and around the world, we push the boundaries of the periodic table and uncover the secrets of nature’s heaviest atoms.
