Ion traps: a powerful tool in low-energy nuclear physics

The technique of ion trapping is an answer to the Heisenberg principle stating that a precise energy measurement requires a long observation time. Since the 60s,  ion traps providing environments free of uncontrolled events are under development in different research fields. Traps commonly utilized in low-energy nuclear physics are the linear Paul trap, the Penning trap and the recently developed MR-ToF MS. They are used as mass separators or mass spectrometers to separate and/or measure atomic masses.

A mass spectrometer is usually constituted with several ion traps, each having its own purpose, from. the beam preparation (the linear Paul trap), to the beam purification and mass measurements via a MR-ToF MS or a double Penning trap, depending on the experimental conditions.

After having introduced the above-mentioned ion traps, I will present two different sets of results. The first one is about the study of the nuclear deformation in the very exotic region A = 100 with the mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP at ISOLDE, CERN.  The second set of measurements, performed with JYFLTRAP at IGISOL, Jyväskylä, refers to low Q-value measurements in the framework of the determination of the neutrino mass.

Finally, I will present the new mass spectrometer: PIPERADE developed for the DESIR hall at GANIL.