The production of alpha particle decaying heavy nuclei in reactions of
7.5-6.1 MeV/nucleon 238U +232Th has been explored using an in-beam
detection array composed of YAP scintillators and gas ionization chamber-Si
telescopes. Comparisons of alpha energies and half-lives for the observed
products with those of the previously known isotopes and with theoretically
predicted values indicate the observation of a number of previously unreported
alpha emitters. Alpha particle decay energies reaching as high as 12 MeV are
observed. Many of these are expected to be from decay of previously unseen
relatively neutron rich products. While the contributions of isomeric states
require further exploration and specific isotope identifications need to be
made, the production of heavy isotopes with quite high atomic numbers is
suggested by the data.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure