Time-of-flight system for a heavy ion magnetic spectrometer

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Vol. 260; no. 1; pp. 146 - 152
• Main Authors: Catford, W.N., Fifield, L.K., Hotchkis, M.A.C., Ophel, T.R., Orr, N.A., Weisser, D.C., Woods, C.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.10.1987
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/0168-9002(87)90396-2

A system to measure the time of flight for heavy ions around an Enge split-pole magnetic spectrometer has been developed. The system consists of a parallel plate avalanche counter at the focal plane and either a microchannel plate detector or a silicon recoil detector in the target chamber. In-beam tests under experimental conditions have demonstrated a typical resolution of 1.0 to 1.5 ns, compared to a total flight time of ∼ 100 ns. Resolution figures approaching these have been recovered, when using the 4.5° angular acceptance of the spectrometer, by applying calculated corrections to the raw data according to the angle and focal plane position. A description of the detectors is followed by the results of the in-beam tests. An example of an application to the study of a heavy ion reaction is also described.