A.G. Popeko, A.V. Yeremin
Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Research, JINR, 141 980 Dubna, Russia

S. Saro, R. Janik
Deparment of Nuclear Physics, Comenius University, SK-84215 Bratislava, Slovakia

M. Leino
Deparment of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, SF-40100 Jyväskylä, Finland

The new element 112 was produced and identified unambiguously in an experiment at SHIP, GSI Darmstadt. Two decay chains of the isotope 277-112 were observed in irradiations of 208-Pb targets with 70-Zn projectiles of 343.8 MeV kinetic energy. The istope decays by emission of alpha particles with a half-life of (240 +430 -90) micro seconds. Two different alpha-energies of (11,649+-20)keV and (11,454+-20) keV) were measured for the decaying nuclei. The cross section measured in three weeks of irradiation is (1.0 +1.3 -0.6) pb.