Production cross section and decay study of Es-243 and Md-249

In the study of the odd-Z, even-N nuclei Es-243 and Md-249, performed at the University of Jyvaskyla, the fusion-evaporation reactions Au-197(Ca-48, 2n)Es-243 and Tl-203(Ca-48, 2n) Md-249 have been used for the first time. Fusion-evaporation residues were selected and detected using a gas-filled separator coupled with its focal-plane spectrometer. For Es-243, the recoil decay correlation analysis yielded a half-life of 24 +/- 3 s and a maximum production cross section of 37 +/- 10 nb. In the same way, a half-life of 26 +/- 1 s, an alpha-branching ratio of 75 +/- 5%, and a maximum production cross section of 300 +/- 80 nb were determined for Md-249. The decay properties of Es-245, the daught…