Fission of 238U projectile fragments induced in a secondary lead target, a test case for the production of super-heavy nuclei

6. Conclusion 
We conclude that the electromagnetic excitation of secondary projectiles at relativistic energies is 
the first promising tool to investigate the fission cross sections of exotic nuclei near the 126-
neutron shell at low excitation energies. The data obtained up to now with this new method lead to 
the same conclusions as those deduced from previous experiments performed with conventional 
methods in which these nuclei could only be produced at appreciably higher excitation energies in 
heavy-ion fusion and fragmentation reactions. Within the experimental resolution, the data 
presented here do not show any stabilizing influence of the 126-neutron shell, which would reduce 
the fission competition in the deexcitation process. This finding might have significant 
consequences for the production of spherical super-heavy nuclei.