In-flight spectrometers status and new developments Original Research Article

In-flight spectrometers have been successfully used for the investigation of exotic nuclei from low energies near the Coulomb barrier up to the AGeV regime. The in-flight method takes advantage of the reaction kinematics to efficiently separate short-lived nuclei at the limits of stability down to a sensitivity of single atoms. Modern in-flight separators are combined with high-resolution devices such as electromagnetic spectrometers, storage-cooler rings, and ion traps. Atomic interaction in matter is a versatile tool to tailor the phase space of nuclear reaction products for efficient separation in flight.