153 research outputs found
Technical design and commissioning of the KATRIN large-volume air coil system
The KATRIN experiment is a next-generation direct neutrino mass experiment
with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV (90% C.L.) to the effective mass of the electron
neutrino. It measures the tritium -decay spectrum close to its endpoint
with a spectrometer based on the MAC-E filter technique. The -decay
electrons are guided by a magnetic field that operates in the mT range in the
central spectrometer volume; it is fine-tuned by a large-volume air coil system
surrounding the spectrometer vessel. The purpose of the system is to provide
optimal transmission properties for signal electrons and to achieve efficient
magnetic shielding against background. In this paper we describe the technical
design of the air coil system, including its mechanical and electrical
properties. We outline the importance of its versatile operation modes in
background investigation and suppression techniques. We compare magnetic field
measurements in the inner spectrometer volume during system commissioning with
corresponding simulations, which allows to verify the system's functionality in
fine-tuning the magnetic field configuration. This is of major importance for a
successful neutrino mass measurement at KATRIN.Comment: 32 pages, 16 figure
Influence of chromophores on quarternary structure of phycobiliproteins from the cyanobacterium, Mastigocladus laminosus
Chromophores of C-phycocyanin and phycoerythrο-cyanin have been chemically modified by reduction to
rubins , bleaching , photoisomerization , or perturbation
with bulky substituents. Pigments containing modified
chromophores, or hybrids containing modified and unmodified chromophores in individual protomers have been prepared. All modifications inhibit the association of the
(aß)-protomers of these pigments to higher aggregates. The
results demonstrate a pronounced effect of the state of
the chromophores on biliprotein quaternary structure. It
may be important in phycobi1isome assembly , and also in
the dual function of biliproteins as (i) antenna pigments
for photosynthesis and (ii) reaction centers for photomor-phogenesis
Results from the Project 8 phase-1 cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy detector
The Project 8 collaboration seeks to measure the absolute neutrino mass scale
by means of precision spectroscopy of the beta decay of tritium. Our technique,
cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy, measures the frequency of the
radiation emitted by electrons produced by decays in an ambient magnetic field.
Because the cyclotron frequency is inversely proportional to the electron's
Lorentz factor, this is also a measurement of the electron's energy. In order
to demonstrate the viability of this technique, we have assembled and
successfully operated a prototype system, which uses a rectangular waveguide to
collect the cyclotron radiation from internal conversion electrons emitted from
a gaseous Kr source. Here we present the main design aspects of the
first phase prototype, which was operated during parts of 2014 and 2015. We
will also discuss the procedures used to analyze these data, along with the
features which have been observed and the performance achieved to date.Comment: 3 pages; 2 figures; Proceedings of Neutrino 2016, XXVII International
Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, 4-9 July 2016, London, U
Project 8 Phase III Design Concept
We present a working concept for Phase III of the Project 8 experiment,
aiming to achieve a neutrino mass sensitivity of ( C.L.)
using a large volume of molecular tritium and a phased antenna array. The
detection system is discussed in detail.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of Neutrino 2016, XXVII International
Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, 4-9 July 2016, London, U
A novel ppm-precise absolute calibration method for precision high-voltage dividers
The most common method to measure direct current high voltage (HV) down to the ppm-level is to use resistive high-voltage dividers. Such devices scale the HV into a range where it can be compared with precision digital voltmeters to reference voltages sources, which can be traced back to Josephson voltage standards. So far the calibration of the scale factors of HV dividers for voltages above 1 kV could only be done at metrology institutes and sometimes involves round-robin tests among several institutions to get reliable results. Here we present a novel absolute calibration method based on the measurement of a differential scale factor, which can be performed with commercial equipment and outside metrology institutes. We demonstrate that reproducible measurements up to 35 kV can be performed with relative uncertainties below
1 · 10. This method is not restricted to metrology institutes and offers the possibility to determine the linearity of high-voltage dividers for a wide range of applications
Limits on the release of Rb isotopes from a zeolite based 83mKr calibration source for the XENON project
The isomer 83mKr with its half-life of 1.83 h is an ideal calibration source
for a liquid noble gas dark matter experiment like the XENON project. However,
the risk of contamination of the detector with traces of the much longer lived
mother isotop 83Rb (86.2 d half-life) has to be ruled out. In this work the
release of 83Rb atoms from a 1.8 MBq 83Rb source embedded in zeolite beads has
been investigated. To do so, a cryogenic trap has been connected to the source
for about 10 days, after which it was removed and probed for the strongest 83Rb
gamma-rays with an ultra-sensitive Germanium detector. No signal has been
found. The corresponding upper limit on the released 83Rb activity means that
the investigated type of source can be used in the XENON project and similar
low-background experiments as 83mKr generator without a significant risk of
contaminating the detector. The measurements also allow to set upper limits on
the possible release of the isotopes 84Rb and 86Rb, traces of which were
created alongside the production of 83Rb at the Rez cyclotron.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Journal of Instrumentatio
Stochastic Heating by ECR as a Novel Means of Background Reduction in the KATRIN Spectrometers
The primary objective of the KATRIN experiment is to probe the absolute
neutrino mass scale with a sensitivity of 200 meV (90% C.L.) by precision
spectroscopy of tritium beta-decay. To achieve this, a low background of the
order of 10^(-2) cps in the region of the tritium beta-decay endpoint is
required. Measurements with an electrostatic retarding spectrometer have
revealed that electrons, arising from nuclear decays in the volume of the
spectrometer, are stored over long time periods and thereby act as a major
source of background exceeding this limit. In this paper we present a novel
active background reduction method based on stochastic heating of stored
electrons by the well-known process of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR). A
successful proof-of-principle of the ECR technique was demonstrated in test
measurements at the KATRIN pre-spectrometer, yielding a large reduction of the
background rate. In addition, we have carried out extensive Monte Carlo
simulations to reveal the potential of the ECR technique to remove all trapped
electrons within negligible loss of measurement time in the main spectrometer.
This would allow the KATRIN experiment attaining its full physics potential
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