Albers, H. M.Khuyagbaatar, J.Hinde, DavidCarter, IanCook, KaitlinDasgupta, MahanandaDullmann, Ch. E.Eberhardt, K.Jeung, DongyunDevi (Kalkal), SunilKindler, B.Lobanov, NikolaiLommel, B.Mokry, C.Edayillam, prasadRafferty, DominicRunke, JorgSekizawa, KazuyukiSengupta, ChandrimaSimenel, CedricSimpson, EdwardSmith, JessicaThorle-Pospiech, P.Vo-Phuoc, KirstenWalshe, JosephWilliams, Elizabeth2021-02-162021-02-160370-2693http://hdl.handle.net/1885/223057The synthesis of new superheavy elements beyond oganesson (Z=118) requires fusion reactions with projectile nuclei with proton numbers larger than that of 48Ca (Z=20), which has been successfully employed for the synthesis of elements with Z=112-118. In such reactions, fusion is drastically hindered by fast non-equilibrated dynamical processes. Attempts to produce nuclei with Z=120 using the 64Ni+238U, 58Fe+244Pu, 54Cr+248Cm, and 50Ti+249Cf reactions have been made, which all result in larger Coulomb forces than for 48Ca-induced reactions, but no discovery has been confirmed to date. In this work, mass and angle distributions of fission fragments from these reactions have been measured with large angular coverage to aid in selection of the most promising projectile-target combination that would favor fusion. The results yield information on reaction contact times, with the longest exhibited by 50Ti+249Cf.Open Access Funded by SCOAP3. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council via research grants DP140101377, DP160101254 and DP170102318, as well as through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) via funds of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). We also acknowledge the Australian Federal Government NCRIS program through the HIA capability for support of accelerator operations.application/pdfen-AU© 2020 The Authorshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Superheavy-element formationZ=120Quasifission2020-09-1010.1016/j.physletb.2020.1356262020-11-08CC BY license