A detector system upgrade at the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator for superheavy element studies

Rare isotopes of heavy and superheavy elements are produced through fusion-evaporation reactions at the 88-inch cyclotron facility of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The decay properties of these nuclei are studied using the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator (BGS). Recently, a new detector system was installed at the BGS focal plane and commissioned alongside a new digital data acquisition (DAQ) system. The SuperHeavy RECoils (SHREC) detector is an array of double-sided silicon strip detectors designed to greatly improve the measurement of superheavy alpha decay chains observed at the back of the BGS. SHREC consists of an implantation detector surrounded by an upstream box-shaped array for increased solid-angle coverage of alpha decays, and a downstream veto array to discern scattered light ions from the alphas of interest. This detector system upgrade is an integral step towards a future element-120 search at the BGS. In this talk I will discuss the successful online commissioning of SHREC and of the new DAQ and I will provide a status update on the preparation of a new element search campaign including the recent production of flerovium ions using the ²⁴⁴Pu(⁴⁸Ca, 3-4n) reaction.