The Beta-decay Paul Trap Mk IV: Design and commissioning

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2024-01, Vol.1058 (C), p.168818, Article 168818
• Main Authors: Varriano, L., Savard, G., Clark, J.A., Burdette, D.P., Burkey, M.T., Gallant, A.T., Hirsh, T.Y., Longfellow, B., Scielzo, N.D., Segel, R., Boron, E.J., Brodeur, M., Callahan, N., Cannon, A., Kolos, K., Liu, B., Lopez-Caceres, S., Gott, M., Maaß, B., Marley, S.T., Mohs, C., Morgan, G.E., Mueller, P., Oberling, M., O’Malley, P.D., Porter, W.S., Purcell, Z., Ray, D., Rivero, F., Valverde, A.A., Wilson, G.L., Zite, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 8Li; Angular correlation; Beta-decay; Ion trap; Paul Trap
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2023.168818

The Beta-decay Paul Trap is an open-geometry, linear trap used to measure the decays of 8Li and 8B to search for a tensor contribution to the weak interaction. In the latest 8Li measurement of Burkey et al. (2022), β scattering was the dominant experimental systematic uncertainty. The Beta-decay Paul Trap Mk IV reduces the prevalence of β scattering by a factor of 4 through a redesigned electrode geometry and the use of glassy carbon and graphite as electrode materials. The trap has been constructed and successfully commissioned with 8Li in a new data campaign that collected 2.6 million triple coincidence events, an increase in statistics by 30% with 4 times less β scattering compared to the previous 8Li data set.