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A complex, long-range experimental program for the production of neutron-rich nuclei via multi-nucleon transfer (MNT) reactions and spontaneous fission (SF) inside the Cryogenic Stopping Cell (CSC) of the FRS Ion Catcher facility at GSI has been suggested and is under development. A key component is a new experimental set-up, consisting of a modified DC cage, a target-wheel, a beam-dump and a space charge suppression system. This setup replaces the standard electrode structure of the CSC, enabling generation of radioactive isotope beams by in-cell MNT reactions inside the CSC and the efficient and fast extraction of ions produced by MNT reactions or spontaneous fission. Furthermore, the system allows to do experiments with beams from the FRS with much higher rates and shorter half-lives. We present the specifications, design and production of this device. We also present the technical solution adopted against the space charge effect and the simulations that validate it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments with low-energy rare ion beams often suffer from a large amount of molecular contaminant ions. We present the simple isolation-dissociation-isolation method to suppress this kind of contamination. The method can be applied to almost all types of low-energy beamlines. In a first step, a coarse isolation of the mass-to-charge ratio of interest is performed, e.g. by a dipole magnet. In a second step, the ions are dissociated. The last step is again a coarse isolation of the mass-to-charge ratio around the ion of interest. The method was tested at the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI with a radioactive ion source installed inside the cryogenic stopping cell as well as with relativistic ions delivered by the synchrotron SIS-18 and stopped in the cryogenic stopping cell. The isolation and dissociation, here collision-induced dissociation, have been implemented in a gas-filled RFQ beamline. A reduction of molecular contamination by more than 4 orders of magnitude was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) system for low-energy radioactive ion beam facilities has been developed, which can be used for (i) isobar separation and (ii) direct mass measurements of very short-lived nuclei with half-lives of about 1ms or longer, and (iii) for identification and diagnosis of the ion beam by mass spectrometry. The system has been designed and simulated, and individual subsystems have been built and characterized experimentally. An injection trap for cooling and bunching of the ion beam has been developed, and cooling times of less than one millisecond have been achieved. The performance of the MR-TOF-MS was characterized using the isobaric doublet of carbon monoxide and nitrogen molecular ions. A mass resolving power of 105 (FWHM) has been obtained even with an uncooled ion population. The separator capabilities of the MR-TOF-MS have been demonstrated by removing either carbon monoxide or nitrogen ions from the beam in a Bradbury-Nielsen Gate after a flight time of 320μs. The separation power achieved is thus at least 7000 (FWHM) and increases for longer time-of-flight. An energy buncher stage has been designed that compresses the energy spread of the beam after the separation and facilitates efficient injection of the selected ions into an accumulation trap prior to transfer of the ions to experiments downstream of the MR-TOF-MS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]