Development of a mass spectrometer for high-precision mass measurements of superheavy elements at JINR

Abstract

A multiple-reflection time-of-flight (MR TOF) mass spectrometer for mass measurements of superheavy elements is currently being developed for an experimental cave of the Superheavy Element Factory at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna. Its conceptual and ion-optical designs are described in the present paper. The spectrometer is designed to achieve a mass measurement accuracy of 10^-7 at low measurement statistics (~5 events) for nuclides with half-lives down to 50 ms. To reach this goal, a new generation MR TOF analyzer with an ultra-high mass resolving power and highly-stable power supplies has been designed. An advanced set of ion-optical solutions for preparation and mass separation of the sample and calibrant ion beams is proposed for the spectrometer: a radiofrequency multiplexer trap separator of charge states, high vacuum quadrupole filters with two-stage differential pumping, operated in the “beat node coincidence” mode, a focused beam transport through the gate valve gaps, as well as a fullerene soot electron ionization calibrant ion source.