Description and commissioning of MIMAS, booster storage ring for heavy and polarized ions

This paper reports on MIMAS a low energy (187.5 keV/A) booster-storage ring (12 MeV/A), dedicated to polarized and heavy ions. First beam tests began in spring 1987 and full on-line operation with the main ring SATURNE was reached in fall. All the elements of the most modern synchrotrons are used and successfully operated. But the main particularities of MIMAS are: synchrotron phase space stacking by betatron deceleration; adiabatic capture and acceleration by large frequency swing RF cavities (0.15 to 2.5 MHz); fast dynamic transfer by kickers between MIMAS and SATURNE. With MIMAS, intensities delivered by SATURNE are increased by a factor 10 in heavy ions up to Argon and between 5 and 10 for polarized particles (p,d)