Wide aperture kinematic separator COMBAS realized on the strong focusing principle

The COMBAS large solid angle and high momentum acceptance and high-resolvin g kinematic separator has been created at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, JINR, to efficiently collect extremely short-lived nuclei near t he zero angle which are produced in intermediate energy fragmentation react ions with wide momentum and wide angular distributions. For the first time the M1M2M3M4FdM6M7M8Fa magneto-optical configuration of the COMBAS separato r has been realized on the strong focussing principle. The separation and t rajectory analysis of particles by the separator are carried out by three p arameters: the magnetic rigidity (B.rho), the energy loss difference in the degrader (Delta E/Delta x) and the time-of-flight (Delta T) of the analyze d particles. The COMBAS separator can be used efficiently both in the mode of a high- resolving spectrometer to study reaction mechanisms and in the m ode of an in-flight separator in experiments on the synthesis and study of properties of short-lived exotic nuclei near the drip-lines. (C) 1999 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.