We present the design and characterisation of a cryogenic window based on an
ultra-thin aluminised PET foil at T < 10K, which can withstand a pressure
difference larger than 1bar at a leak rate < 1×10−9 mbar⋅ l/s.
Its thickness of approximately 1.7 μm makes it transparent to various types
of particles over a broad energy range. To optimise the transfer of 100keV
antiprotons through the window, we tested the degrading properties of different
aluminium coated PET foils of thicknesses between 900nm and 2160nm, concluding
that 1760nm foil decelerates antiprotons to an average energy of 5 keV. We have
also explicitly studied the permeation as a function of coating thickness and
temperature, and have performed extensive thermal and mechanical endurance and
stress tests. Our final design integrated into the experiment has an effective
open surface consisting of 7 holes with 1 mm diameter and will transmit up to
2.5% of the injected 100keV antiproton beam delivered by the AD/ELENA-facility
of CERN