Accurate mass measurements of 26Ne, 26–30Na, 29–33Mg performed with the Mistral spectrometer

The minuteness of the nuclear binding energy requires that mass measurements be highly precise and accurate. Here we report on new measurements of 29−33Mg and 26Na performed with the Mistral mass spectrometer at CERN's Isolde facility. Since mass measurements are prone to systematic errors, considerable effort has been devoted to their evaluation and elimination in order to achieve accuracy and not only precision. We have therefore conducted a campaign of measurements for calibration and error evaluation. As a result, we now have a satisfactory description of the Mistral calibration laws and error budget. We have applied our new understanding to previous measurements of 26Ne, 26–30Na and 29,32Mg for which re-evaluated values are reported.