Accurate Mass Measurements of 26 Ne, 26−30 Na, 29−33 Mg Performed with the Mistral Spectrometer

The minuteness of the nuclear binding energy requires that mass measurements be highly precise and accurate. Here we report on new measurements 29−33 Mg and 26 Na performed with the MISTRAL mass spectrometer at CERN's ISOLDE facility. Since mass measurements are prone to systematic errors, considerable effort has been devoted to their evaluation and elimination in order to achieve accuracy and not only precision. We have therefore conducted a campaign of measurements for calibration and error evaluation. As a result, we now have a satisfactory description of the MISTRAL calibration laws and error budget. We have applied our new understanding to previous measurements of 26 Ne, 26−30 Na and 29,32 Mg for which re-evaluated values are reported.