Commissioning a Laser Ablation Ion Source for TITAN Mass Spectrometry

Ion-trap based mass spectrometry provides the most precise and accurate means of measuring ionic masses to study nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics, and fundamental interactions. Isobaric calibrants play a critical role in these measurements and can be best achieved with a Laser Ablation Source (LAS). A LAS is currently being developed as an ion source for TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear Science (TITAN). The LAS will couple to TITAN's Multiple-Reflection Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) to enhance the variety of stable and long-lived species available during on-line experiments, off-line experiments, and technical developments. Optimization of the ion optics and commissioning of a laser-ablation test stand at the University of Calgary has been completed. The status of the LAS will be presented, including characterizations of the spatial resolution and control of the laser across the target. Multi-material targets have been designed for fast replacement and demonstration of time-of-flight mass separation. The isobaric mass calibrants produced by the LAS will not only aid multiple TITAN ion traps with ion-optical tuning, but also improve the precision of online ion-trap-based mass spectrometry.