Speaker
Description
Mass spectrometry plays an important role in different branches of physics including nuclear structure. Precise masses can help identify trends in nucleon separation energies, offering insight into shell closures and nuclear deformation. The TITAN (TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science) facility is dedicated to conducting high-precision and fast mass measurements by utilizing a state-of-the-art Multi-Reflection Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS), and a Penning trap. In recent experimental campaigns, masses of several neutron-rich nuclides have been measured using the MR-TOF-MS, including that of many previously-unmeasured isotopes of lanthanides Eu, Tm and Yb. The measured masses were used to investigate nuclear structure effects in the rare-earth region, mainly in the hole-hole quadrant below the doubly magic $^{208}$Pb, such as subshell closures around $N \sim 104$, strong proton-neutron interaction in $^{186}$Hf and the potential onset of a prolate-to-oblate shape transition around $N \sim 116$, opening the door to investigating the effects of the strong force in a previously inaccessible region. These recent results along with an outlook of planned measurements in the region will be presented in this contribution.