Spontaneous fission and alpha-decay properties of neutron deficient isotopes 257-253104 and 258106

Spontaneous fission and α-decay of 253-257104 and 258106 were investigated in irradiations of 204,206,208Pb with 50Ti and 209Bi with 51V, respectively. New spontaneous fission activities were identified and assigned to 253104, 254104, and 258106. The half-lives were measured as T1/2=(48+17-10) μs for 253104, T1/2=(23±3) μs for 254104, and T1/2=(2.9+1.3-0.7) ms for 258106. No indication for α-decay of any of these isotopes was found. For the α-decay branching ratios bα limits corresponding to bα≤0.1 for 253104, bα≤0.015 for 254104, and bα≤0.2 for 258106 were obtained. These results prove a reduced fission probability for nuclei with neutron numbers N=152 up to Z=106 and a steep decrease of the fission half-lives for neutron numbers N < 152 up to element 104. α-decay data of 257104 and 255104 have been improved. An isomeric state decaying by α-emission was identified in 257104 and attributed to a low lying 11/2-[725] state. A small α-decay branch for the even-even nucleus 256104, indicated in an earlier experiment at SHIP, was confirmed, allowing a better founded extrapolation of experimental masses for even-even nuclei up to 264Hs (Z=108), the heaviest even-even nucleus identified so far. (orig.)