Colliding heavy nuclei take multiple identities on the path to fusion.

The properties of superheavy elements probe extremes of physics and chemistry. They are synthesised at accelerator laboratories using nuclear fusion, where two atomic nuclei collide, stick together (capture), then with low probability evolve to a compact superheavy nucleus. The fundamental microscopic mechanisms controlling fusion are not fully understood, limiting predictive capability.

Enhanced Atomic Desorption of 209 and 210 Francium from Organic Coating.

Controlled atomic desorption from organic Poly-DiMethylSiloxane coating is demonstrated for improving the loading efficiency of Fr magneto-optical traps. A three times increase in the cold atoms population is obtained with contact-less pulsed light-induced desorption, applied to different isotopes, either bosonic or fermionic, of Francium. A six times increase of Fr population is obtained with a desorption mechanism based on direct charge transfer from a triboelectric probe to the adatom-organic coating complex.