Enhancing the performance of solenoidal spectrometers for inverse reactions

Helical-orbit solenoidal spectrometers, in which the target and detector are placed inside a uniform magnetic field, have been utilised for more than a decade to study nuclear reactions in inverse kinematics, induced by radioactive beams. Methods to improve the final state energy resolution are presented and the inclusion of an active gas target is proposed to improve the performance of the spectrometer.