Mass measurements of proton-rich nuclides using the Canadian Penning trap mass spectrometer

The Canadian Penning Trap (CPT) mass spectrometer, currently located at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), is designed to make precise mass measurements of a wide variety of nuclides with half-lives longer than 30 ms. The radioactive nuclides investigated here are produced through fusion-evaporation reactions using heavy-ion beams from the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS). Once created, the nuclides of interest are separated from the beam using a gas-filled magnetic spectrometer. They are then stopped in a gas catcher filled with 150 Torr of helium, extracted and subsequently guided to a radio-frequency quadrupole ion trap where they are accumulated before being transferred to a high-precision Penning trap. This paper will discuss the mass measurement program underway at ANL using the CPT mass spectrometer with particular emphasis on the latest mass measurements obtained of proton-rich nuclides at A ~ 68 from the reaction of a 225 MeV 58Ni beam upon a 12C target.