Role of optimal beam energies in the heavy ion fusion reaction

Heavy ion fusion reactions are used in the synthesis of superheavy elements. Besides the right choice of entrance channel, selection of optimal beam energy for synthesis of superheavy elements plays a crucial role. A thorough investigation with the advanced statistical and the dinuclear system models on the experiments performed for the synthesis of the successful superheavy elements Z=104 –118 and failed superheavy elements Z=119 –120 leads us to infer that improper choice of the beam energies may be responsible for too low production cross sections to measure and thus the cause for the debacle. We have predicted the optimal beam energies to obtain the maximum evaporation residue cross sections for the reactions used for the superheavy elements Z=104 –120. Hope an exploitation of these predictions may be on the cards soon to extend the periodic table for the eighth period.