Solenoid based devices for ion transportation

Room temperature solenoids with rotationally symmetric field have been in ample use as lens for the electron optics. For the case of heavy ions, traditionally, a combination of quadrupoles/dipoles as primary ion-optical elements is used for the transport of the rare isotopes produced in nuclear reactions. A solenoid with its large acceptance in space and magnetic rigidity, double-focusing properties, reasonable magnetic selectivity and non-bending optic axis etc provides for a suitable alternative, and often may permit better performance for the transport of the rare isotopes. However, this has been possible for the heavy ion reactions only with the advent of large superconducting-magnet technology