Direct mass measurements of the heaviest elements with Penning traps

Penning-trap mass spectrometry (PTMS) is a mature technique to provide atomic masses with highest precision. Applied to radionuclides it enables us to investigate their nuclear structure via binding energies and derived quantities such as nucleon separation energies. Recent progress in slowing down radioactive ion beams in buffer gas cells in combination with advanced ion-manipulation techniques has opened the door to access even the elements above fermium by PTMS. Such elements are produced in complete fusion-evaporation reactions of heavy ions with lead, bismuth, and actinide targets at very low rates. Pioneering high-precision mass measurements of nobelium and lawrencium isotopes have been performed with SHIPTRAP at the GSI Darmstadt, Germany. These have illustrated that direct mass measurements provide reliable anchor points to pin down decay chains and that they allow mapping nuclear shell effects, the reason for the very existence of the heaviest elements. Thus, accurate masses contribute to our understanding of these exotic nuclei with extreme proton numbers. In this article experimental challenges in mass measurements of the heaviest elements with Penning traps are discussed. Some illustrative examples of the nuclear structure features displayed based on the presently known masses are given.