Superheavy Chemistry, One Atom at a Time

It's now more or less official: element 117 will have a seat at the periodic table. Earlier this month an international team of scientists that included researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Nuclear Science Division found two atoms of superheavy element 117. The experiment, conducted at a particle accelerator at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany, builds on the previous 117 experiment by a different team working in Dubna, Russia in 2010 that identified six atoms of the superheavy element. Heino Nitsche leads Berkeley Lab's superheavy-element research. The group is involved in not only in the verification of new elements like 117, but also in figuring out the best ways to do chemistry experiments with the few, fleeting atoms on the roster of superheavies. He and staff scientists Kenneth Gregorich and Jackie Gates recently discussed their roles in the new 117 experiment. They also described how their team, which includes scientist Greg Pang, does chemistry one atom at a time.