Rare atomic nucleus found using China's new 'super microscope'

Chinese scientists have successfully produced and identified the rare atomic nucleus hafnium-153 using a powerful "super microscope" in southern China, marking the first physics achievement from the country's newest mega-lab.

The facility, known as the High Intensity Heavy-ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF), allows scientists to see the building blocks of matter in ways that weren't possible before. 

Atomic nuclei are made of protons and neutrons, and different combinations create different nuclides. Hafnium-153 is important because it helps scientists understand how nuclear structure evolves and where stability breaks down. Its discovery also helps test theoretical nuclear models and deepens our understanding of atomic nuclei at their most fundamental level.

In the experiment, researchers detected 10 hafnium-153 ions, enough to confirm that the nuclide is bound, or weakly bound, as predicted.

The research team, led by scientists from the Institute of Modern Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said high-performance technologies developed for HIAF made the detection possible despite the nuclide's extremely low production probability.

They expect more discoveries to come from the lab, which should become a powerful platform for exploring unknown regions of the nuclear chart and studying the properties of atomic nuclei under extreme conditions. 

The findings were recently published in the journal Science Bulletin.