Below-target transfers in the 136Xe + 249Cf reaction

A target consisting of .825 mg/cm2 of 249Cf as Cf2O3 on a 1.8 mg/cm2 Be backing was produced by the molecular plating procedure. It was bombarded by 8.5 MeV/nucleon 136Xe ions at the SuperHILAC in the High Level Cave, and the recoiling products were stopped in a 25 mg/cm2 gold foil. At the end of bombardment the gold foil was transported to the chemistry lab for processing. The short-lived americium isotopes were separated from all other elements in a procedure which involved a HDEHP/HNO3 extraction chromatography column, a 13 M HCl cation exchange column, and a LaF3 co-precipitation. The time from the end of bombardment to the availability of the finished chemical fraction was < 35 min. The short lived Bk isotopes were separated in a similar procedure. The long lived Am and Bk isotopes were produced in a long bombardment and were separated from all other elements in a procedure involving an ammonium α-hydroxyisobutyrate cation exchange column and a 13 M HCl cation exchange column. The cross sections for the production of Bk and Am isotopes are presented along with the cross sections for analogous transfer products from the 136Xe + 248Cm reaction