Observation of the exclusive reaction e(+)e(-)->phi eta at root s=10.58 GeV

We report the observation of e(+)e(-)->phi eta near root s=10.58 GeV with 6.5 sigma significance in the K+K-gamma gamma final state in a data sample of 224 fb(-1) collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II e(+)e(-) storage rings. We measure the restricted radiation-corrected cross section to be sigma(e(+)e(-)->phi eta)=2.1 +/- 0.4(stat)+/- 0.1(syst) fb within the range vertical bar cos theta(*)vertical bar < 0.8, where theta(*) is the center-of-mass polar angle of the phi meson. The phi meson is required to be in the invariant mass range of 1.008 < m(phi)< 1.035 GeV/c(2). The radiation-corrected cross section in the full cos theta(*) range is extrapolated to be 2.9 +/- 0.5(stat)+/- 0.1(syst) fb.