Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is where nuclear technologies were born. Element 116 was named in its honor. It's the result of international partnership: scientists from Dubna in Russia and Livermore in America together synthesized this element in 2000. Livermorium is a chalcogen, related to polonium, but lives only milliseconds. Relativistic effects may make it a semiconductor instead of a metal.
Livermorium was synthesized in Dubna in 2000 in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (California). Curium-248 was bombarded with calcium-48 ions. Later, another route was used — through the decay of oganesson.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is one of the most powerful research centers in the US. It develops nuclear weapons, models climate, and studies thermonuclear fusion. Element 116 immortalized this laboratory in the periodic table.
Livermorium is extremely radioactive and exists only milliseconds. It's synthesized a few atoms at a time. It poses no practical threat.
Livermorium is a product of 'science diplomacy.' During the Cold War, nuclear physics brought US and Soviet scientists together. This element symbolizes that cooperation.
Isotope Lv-293 lives only 60 milliseconds — shorter than a single eye blink (300 ms). No chemical experiment is possible in that time.
Livermorium is a chalcogen (the oxygen and sulfur group) but may be a semiconductor or even a metal. Relativistic effects completely reshape chemistry in this region.
Livermore Laboratory was founded in 1952 at the initiative of Edward Teller — the 'father of the hydrogen bomb.' Today it houses one of the world's most powerful supercomputers.
The most stable livermorium isotope, Lv-293, lives only 57 milliseconds — less than the time for a single heartbeat. In that time, the atom emits an alpha particle and transforms into flerovium.
| Isotope | Mass (u) | Abundance | Half-life | Decay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
291Lv☢ | 291.201080 | synthetic | 18 ms | α |
293Lv☢ | 293.204490 | synthetic | 53 ms | α |
Cyclotron bombardment of curium