First measurements of atomic masses with the Canadian Penning Trap, CPT, mass spectrometer

Abstract

The Canadian Penning Trap (CPT) mass spectrometer has been set up at the ATLAS facility of the Argonne National Laboratories. The CPT mass spectrometer consists of two major components: a Paul trap for cooling and accumulation, and a Penning trap for precise mass measurements. The mass measurement is performed via the determination of the cyclotron frequency of stored ions in a homogeneous, 5.9 Tesla, magnetic field using a time of flight (TOF) technique. The CPT mass spectrometer system is designed to achieve an accuracy of 10 -8 for unstable isotopes (half-life greater than 100 ms) and 10-9 for stable isotopes. The systematics of the CPT mass spectrometer were studied. The various parameters of the Paul trap and the Penning trap have been optimized, and first mass measurements of gold and platinum isotopes were conducted with the CPT mass spectrometer. A resolving power of 1.2 * 106 and an accuracy of 2 * 10 -8 are attained