Suppression of Penning discharges between the KATRIN spectrometers

0532607 - ÚJF 2021 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Aker, M. - Altenmuller, K. - Beglarian, A. - Behrens, J. - Berlev, A. I. - Besserer, U. - Blaum, K. - Dragoun, Otokar - Fedkevych, M. - Kovalík, Alojz - Lebeda, Ondřej - Ryšavý, Miloš - Vénos, Drahoslav … Total 155 authors
Suppression of Penning discharges between the KATRIN spectrometers.
European Physical Journal C. Roč. 80, č. 9 (2020), č. článku 821. ISSN 1434-6044. E-ISSN 1434-6052
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LM2015056; GA MŠMT LTT19005
Institutional support: RVO:61389005
Keywords : KATRIN * neutrino * spectrometers
OECD category: Particles and field physics
Impact factor: 4.590, year: 2020
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-8278-y

The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) aims to determine the effective electron (anti)-neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2eV/c2 by precisely measuring the endpoint region of the tritium beta -decay spectrum. It uses a tandem of electrostatic spectrometers working as magnetic adiabatic collimation combined with an electrostatic (MAC-E) filters. In the space between the pre-spectrometer and the main spectrometer, creating a Penning trap is unavoidable when the superconducting magnet between the two spectrometers, biased at their respective nominal potentials, is energized. The electrons accumulated in this trap can lead to discharges, which create additional background electrons and endanger the spectrometer and detector section downstream. To counteract this problem, 'electron catchers' were installed in the beamline inside the magnet bore between the two spectrometers. These catchers can be moved across the magnetic-flux tube and intercept on a sub-ms time scale the stored electrons along their magnetron motion paths. In this paper, we report on the design and the successful commissioning of the electron catchers and present results on their efficiency in reducing the experimental background.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0311045