HEAVY-ION REACTION ANALYZER (HIRA) - A RECOIL MASS SEPARATOR FACILITYAT NSC

An inter-university research facility [1] using a 16 MV tandem ion acc elerator has been set up at Nuclear Science Centre (NSC), New Delhi. T he heavy ion reaction analyzer (HIRA), a major experimental facility a t NSC, is a large solid angle online mass separator for the reaction p roducts preserving the kinematic correlation [2]. It is designed to ef fectively separate the nuclear reaction products of interest from the elastically scattered beam, dispersing them with good mass resolution at its focal plane with energy and space focusing. HIRA transports the ions within a short time (approximate to mu s) without losing the tim e correlation with the instant of reaction. The transit time spread (f or a given energy) due to different flight paths is very small. With c apability of operation over an angular range of -15 degrees to +40 deg rees, HIRA is planned as a versatile reaction analyzer for heavy ion s tudies. The HIRA facility is operational and initial reports on its pe rformance are presented [3]. In section 1 we give details of ion optic al considerations and design goals. Section 2 gives some hardware deta ils and results of field mapping of various magnetic components. The l ast section gives some of the results obtained in the preliminary meas urements. A detailed description of the performance results of HIRA wi ll be presented in a following publication.