ISOLTRAP is a Penning trap mass spectrometer for high-precision mass measurements on short-lived nuclides installed at the
on-line isotope separator ISOLDE at CERN. The masses of close to 300 radionuclides have been determined up to now. The applicability
of Penning trap mass spectrometry to mass measurements of exotic nuclei has been extended considerably at ISOLTRAP by improving
and developing this double Penning trap mass spectrometer over the past two decades. The accurate determination of nuclear
binding energies far from stability includes nuclei that are produced at rates less than 100 ions/s and with half-lives well
below 100ms. The mass-resolving power reaches 10
7 corresponding to 10keV for medium heavy nuclei and the uncertainty of the resulting mass values has been pushed down to below
10
-8. The article describes technical developments achieved since 1996 and the present performance of ISOLTRAP.
PACS. 07.75.+h Mass spectrometers - 21.10.Dr Binding energies and masses - 32.10.Bi Atomic masses, mass spectra, abundances, and isotopes - 37.10.Ty Ion trapping
C. Signorini