Discovery of Enhanced Nuclear Stability near the Deformed Shells N=162 and Z=108

In bombardments of ²⁴⁸Cm with ²²Ne we discovered two new isotopes, ²⁶⁵106 and ²⁶⁶106, by establishing genetic links between their α decays and spontaneous fussion (SF) or α decays of the daughter nuclides. We measured E_α=8.63±0.05 MeV for ²⁶⁶106 and a half-life of 1.2 s for its daughter ²⁶²104. For ²⁶⁵106 we measured E_α=8.71 to 8.91 MeV. From these α energies we estimated α half-lives of 10-30 s for ²⁶⁶106 and 2-30 s for ²⁶⁵106. We estimated SF branches of 50% or less for both isotopes. The decay properties of ²⁶⁶106 establish the existence of enhanced nuclear stability near the predicted deformed shells N=162 and Z=108.