NEW RESULTS FOR ELEMENTS 115, 117, AND 118 PRODUCED IN THE REACTIONS Am-243+Ca-48 AND Bk-249/Cf-249+Ca-48

The reactions of Am-243 and Bk-249 with Ca-48 have been reinvestigated to provide new evidence for the discovery of elements 113, 115, and 117. Three isotopes (287-289)115 were synthesized in the Am-243+Ca-48 reactions at five projectile energies, providing excitation functions and a alpha-decay spectra of the produced isotopes. Decay properties of (287,288)115 and of all the daughter products agree with the data of the experiment in which these nuclei were synthesized for the first time. The new (289)115 events demonstrate the same decay properties as those observed for (289)115 populated by a decay of (293)117 produced in the Bk-249+Ca-48 reaction to provide cross-bombardment evidence. Results of recent experiments at the Dubna gas-filled recoil separator aimed at studying production cross-sections, excitation functions, and nuclear decay properties for isotopes (293,294)117 synthesized in the Bk-249+Ca-48 reaction at five projectile energies are presented. In addition, a single decay of (294)118 was observed from the reaction with Cf-249 - a result of the in-growth of Cf-249 in the Bk-249 target.