Physical separators for the heaviest elements

Reports on the production, separation and identification of elements with atomic numbers Z up to 118 can be found in the current literature. Such heavy nuclides are generally produced in complete fusion-evaporation reactions. In many studies, powerful physical recoil separators are used to isolate the few interesting events from an orders of magnitude more intense background of unwanted reaction products. In this overview, the physical separators currently in use for studies of nuclei with Z ⩾ 100 are presented along with the most important techniques and methods of the field.