  A project of using a target consisting of the mixture of (249-252)Cf isotopes
to be bombarded with the 48Ca beam, aimed to synthesize new isotopes of the
heaviest known element Z = 118, is under way at the FLNR in Dubna. In the
present work excitation functions for all the reactions:
249Cf(48Ca,xn)(297-x)118, 250Cf(48Ca,xn)(298-x)118, 251Cf(48Ca,xn)(299-x)118
and 252Cf(48Ca,xn)(300-x)118 have been calculated in the framework of the
fusion-by-diffusion model, assuming fission barriers, ground-state masses and
shell effects of the superheavy nuclei predicted by Kowal et al. Energy
dependence of the effective cross sections for the synthesis of selected new
isotopes: (293)118, (294)118, (295)118 and (296)118 is predicted for the
particular isotopic composition of the Cf target prepared for the Dubna
experiment.
