Population of nuclides with Z ≥ 98 in multi-nucleon transfer reactions of 48 Ca + 248 Cm

. The results for nuclei above curium, produced in multi-nucleon transfer reactions of 48 Ca + 248 Cm at the velocity filter SHIP of GSI Darmstadt, are presented. Spontaneous fission and α -activities have been used to study the population of nuclei with lifetimes ranging from few milliseconds to several days. We observed several, relatively neutron-rich isotopes with atomic numbers Z ≥ 98 ; among them a weak 224 millisecond activity which we tentatively attributed to 260 No. The measured cross-sections of the observed nuclei give hope that multi-nucleon transfer reactions are a way to reach new neutron-rich heavy and superheavy nuclei, which are not accessible in other reactions. We compare our results with data from earlier experiments and discuss limitations and future perspectives of the method.