The research reactor TRIGA Mainz is an ideal facility to provide neutron-rich nuclides with production rates sufficiently large for mass spectrometric and laser spectroscopic studies. Within the TRIGA-SPEC project, a Penning trap as well as a beamline for collinear laser spectroscopy are being installed. Several new developments will ensure high sensitivity of the trap setup enabling mass measurements even on a single ion. Besides neutron-rich fission products produced in the reactor, also heavy nuclides such as 235U or 252Cf can be investigated for the first time with an off-line ion source. The data provided by the mass measurements will be of interest for astrophysical calculations on the rapid neutron-capture process as well as for tests of mass models in the heavy-mass region. The laser spectroscopic measurements will yield model-independent information on nuclear ground-state properties such as nuclear moments and charge radii of neutron-rich nuclei of refractory elements far from stability. TRIGA-SPEC also serves as a test facility for mass and laser spectroscopic experiments at SHIPTRAP and the low-energy branch of the future GSI facility FAIR. This publication describes the experimental setup as well as its present status

The novel five-Penning trap mass spectrometer Pentatrap is developed at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK), Heidelberg. Ions of interest are long-lived highly charged nuclides up to bare uranium. Pentatrap aims for an accuracy of a few parts in 10 12 for mass ratios of mass doublets. A physics program for Pentatrap includes Q-values measurements of β-transitions relevant for neutrino physics, stringent tests of quantum electrodynamics in the regime of extreme electric fields, and a test of special relativity. Main features of Pentatrap are an access to a source of highly charged ions, a multi-trap configuration, simultaneous measurements of frequencies, a continuous precise monitoring of magnetic field fluctuations, a fast exchange between different ions, and a highly sensitive cryogenic non-destructive detection system. This paper gives a motivation for the new mass spectrometer Pentatrap, presents its experimental setup, and describes the present status.

A novel Penning trap tower consisting of five compensated cylindrical Penning traps is developed for the PENTATRAP mass spectrometer at the MaxPlanck-Institut für Kernphysik in Heidelberg, Germany. An analytical expression for the electrostatic potential inside the trap tower is derived to calculate standard Penning trap properties like the compensation of anharmonicities and an orthogonal geometry of the trap electrodes. Since the PENTATRAP project described in the preceding article aims for ultra high-precision massratio measurements of highly charged ions up to uranium, systematic effects for highly charged ions inside the trap tower are considered for the design process as well. Finally, a limit due to remaining anharmonic shifts at large amplitudes is estimated for the resulting geometry, which is important for phase-sensitive measurements of the reduced cyclotron frequency of the ions.