Highly Charged Ions in Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Penning Traps

Published

July 13, 2012

Author(s)

Nicholas D. Guise, Samuel M. Brewer, Joseph N. Tan

Abstract

A newly constructed apparatus at the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is designed for the isolation, manipulation, and study of highly charged ions. Highly charged ions are produced in the NIST electron-beam ion trap (EBIT), extracted through a beamline that selects a single charge/mass species, then captured in a compact Penning trap, the magnetic field of which is generated by cylindrical NdFeB permanent magnets integrated into its electrodes. Ions of charge Qe, emerging from the EBIT with energy up to 4.3Q keV, are slowed electrostatically while entering the Penning trap, then captured by pulsing closed the Penning trap front endcap voltage at the time of arrival. Stored ions are later detected by pulsing open the back endcap to dump to a position-sensitive microchannel plate (MCP) detector. In a room-temperature prototype trap with a single NdFeB magnet, species including Ne10+ and N7+ were confined with storage times of order 1 second, showing the potential of this setup for manipulation and spectroscopy of highly charged ions in a controlled environment. Ion capture has since been demonstrated with similar storage times in a more-elaborate Penning trap that integrates two coaxial NdFeB magnets for improved B-field homogeneity. Ongoing experiments utilize a second-generation apparatus that incorporates this two-magnet Penning trap along with a fast time-of-flight MCP detector capable of resolving the charge-state evolution of trapped ions. Holes in the two-magnet Penning trap ring electrode allow for optical and atomic beam access. Possible applications include spectroscopic studies of one-electron ions in Rydberg states, as well as highly charged ions of interest in atomic physics, metrology, astrophysics, and plasma diagnostics.

Proceedings Title

3rd International Conference on Current Developments in Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Nano Physics

Volume

76

Conference Dates

December 14-16, 2011

Conference Location

New Delhi , IN

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

ion trapping, exotic atoms, mass spectrometers, Astrophysics

Citation

Guise, N. , Brewer, S. and Tan, J. (2012), Highly Charged Ions in Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Penning Traps, 3rd International Conference on Current Developments in Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Nano Physics, New Delhi , IN, [online], https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1207.3333 (Accessed October 31, 2024)