Abstract
Precise nuclear mass data is fundamental to the study of nuclear structure and provides important inputs for nucleosynthesis calculations. Low production yields and short half-lives of increasingly exotic nuclei have propelled the development of the multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrograph (MRTOF-MS) to become a leading method for high precision mass measurement, achieving a mass resolving power of m/Δm = 106 with flight times in the range of milliseconds, which makes it an attractive candidate for measurements of short-lived nuclei and their isomers. Indeed, the MRTOF-MS has been used as isobar separators and mass spectrometers with many more being constructed at accelerator facilities. The stable high-voltage operation of the MRTOF-MS has been a crucial factor in its success. Currently, one of the many challenges of the MRTOF-MS is the voltage instability introduced by high frequency switching of electrodes during trapping and releasing of ions. This leads to undesirable mass dependent effects, limiting the operational range of the MRTOF-MS.
In this seminar, I will give an overview of two enhancements of the MRTOF-MS at RIKEN, a center drift tube tuning method and high voltage switching buffers to improve operational stability and mass resolving power, as well as measurements of radioactive isotopes around 184Ta.
Anyone interested is welcome to attend.