Nuclear isobar separation for Penning trap mass measurements at TRIUMF

Nuclear mass values are an important experimental input for research in nuclear theory, astrophysics, and fundamental symmetries. Penning trap experiments such as TRIUMF’s Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear Science (TITAN) have produced the most precise mass values available for many exotic nuclei. TITAN has measured masses for nuclei with half-lives as short as 8 ms with a relative precision down to 10 −8 . TITAN has recently installed a multiple reflection time of flight (MR-ToF) mass separator to isolate rare isotopes for mass measurements even when they are obscured by intense isobaric backgrounds. The MR-ToF can act as a mass filter, producing isobarically pure samples, and it can also operate as a mass spectrometer, destroying a sample to rapidly produce a mass spectrum of an entire ion beam. In the following I provide a pedagogical introduction to the operating principles of the system and report on the results of initial commissioning.