0000000000338599
AUTHOR
Guido Drexlin
showing 12 related works from this author
Commissioning of the vacuum system of the KATRIN Main Spectrometer
2016
The KATRIN experiment will probe the neutrino mass by measuring the β-electron energy spectrum near the endpoint of tritium β-decay. An integral energy analysis will be performed by an electro-static spectrometer (``Main Spectrometer''), an ultra-high vacuum vessel with a length of 23.2 m, a volume of 1240 m[superscript 3], and a complex inner electrode system with about 120 000 individual parts. The strong magnetic field that guides the β-electrons is provided by super-conducting solenoids at both ends of the spectrometer. Its influence on turbo-molecular pumps and vacuum gauges had to be considered. A system consisting of 6 turbo-molecular pumps and 3 km of non-evaporable getter strips ha…
First operation of the KATRIN experiment with tritium
2020
AbstractThe determination of the neutrino mass is one of the major challenges in astroparticle physics today. Direct neutrino mass experiments, based solely on the kinematics of $$\upbeta $$β-decay, provide a largely model-independent probe to the neutrino mass scale. The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is designed to directly measure the effective electron antineutrino mass with a sensitivity of $$0.2\hbox { eV}$$0.2eV ($$90\%$$90% CL). In this work we report on the first operation of KATRIN with tritium which took place in 2018. During this commissioning phase of the tritium circulation system, excellent agreement of the theoretical prediction with the recorded spectra was …
Reduction of stored-particle background by a magnetic pulse method at the KATRIN experiment
2018
Arenz, M., et al. “Reduction of Stored-Particle Background by a Magnetic Pulse Method at the KATRIN Experiment.” The European Physical Journal C, vol. 78, no. 9, Sept. 2018. © 2018 The Authors
High-voltage monitoring with a solenoid retarding spectrometer at the KATRIN experiment
2014
The KATRIN experiment will measure the absolute mass scale of neutrinos with a sensitivity of m(ν) = 200meV/c(2) by means of an electrostatic spectrometer set close to the tritium β-decay endpoint at 18.6keV. Fluctuations of the energy scale must be under control within ±60mV (±3ppm). Since a precise voltage measurement in the range of tens of kV is on the edge of current technology, a nuclear standard will be deployed additionally. Parallel to the main spectrometer the same retarding potential will be applied to the monitor spectrometer to measure 17.8-keV K-conversion electrons of (83m)Kr. This article describes the setup of the monitor spectrometer and presents its first measurement resu…
Suppression of Penning discharges between the KATRIN spectrometers
2020
The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) aims to determine the effective electron (anti)neutrino mass with a sensitivity of $0.2\textrm{ eV/c}^2$ (90$\%$ C.L.) by precisely measuring the endpoint region of the tritium $\beta$-decay spectrum. It uses a tandem of electrostatic spectrometers working as MAC-E (magnetic adiabatic collimation combined with an electrostatic) filters. In the space between the pre-spectrometer and the main spectrometer, an unavoidable Penning trap is created 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 a…
Penning discharge in the KATRIN pre-spectrometer
2014
The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is a next-generation, large-scale tritium β-decay experiment to determine the neutrino mass by investigating the kinematics of tritium β-decay with a sensitivity of 200 meV/c2 using the MAC-E filter technique. In order to reach this sensitivity a low background level of 10−2 counts per second (cps) is required. A major background concern in MAC-E filters is the presence of Penning traps. A Penning trap is a special configuration of electromagnetic fields that allows the storage of electrically charged particles. This paper describes the mechanism of Penning discharges and the corresponding measurements performed at the test setup of the KAT…
First transmission of electrons and ions through the KATRIN beamline
2018
The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is a large-scale effort to probe the absolute neutrino mass scale with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV (90% confidence level), via a precise measurement of the endpoint spectrum of tritium β-decay. This work documents several KATRIN commissioning milestones: the complete assembly of the experimental beamline, the successful transmission of electrons from three sources through the beamline to the primary detector, and tests of ion transport and retention. In the First Light commissioning campaign of autumn 2016, photoelectrons were generated at the rear wall and ions were created by a dedicated ion source attached to the rear section; in July 2017, …
Calibration of high voltages at the ppm level by the difference of $^{83\mathrm{m}}$Kr conversion electron lines at the KATRIN experiment
2018
The neutrino mass experiment KATRIN requires a stability of 3 ppm for the retarding potential at − 18.6 kV of the main spectrometer. To monitor the stability, two custom-made ultra-precise high-voltage dividers were developed and built in cooperation with the German national metrology institute Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). Until now, regular absolute calibration of the voltage dividers required bringing the equipment to the specialised metrology laboratory. Here we present a new method based on measuring the energy difference of two [superscript 83m]Kr conversion electron lines with the KATRIN setup, which was demonstrated during KATRIN’s commissioning measurements in July 2…
High-resolution spectroscopy of gaseous $^\mathrm{83m}$Kr conversion electrons with the KATRIN experiment
2020
In this work, we present the first spectroscopic measurements of conversion electrons originating from the decay of metastable gaseous $^\mathrm{83m}$Kr with the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment. The results obtained in this calibration measurement represent a major commissioning milestone for the upcoming direct neutrino mass measurement with KATRIN. The successful campaign demonstrates the functionalities of the full KATRIN beamline. The KATRIN main spectrometer's excellent energy resolution of ~ 1 eV made it possible to determine the narrow K-32 and L$_3$-32 conversion electron line widths with an unprecedented precision of ~ 1 %.
A White Paper on keV sterile neutrino Dark Matter
2017
We present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter, collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved - cosmology, astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics - in each case viewed from both theoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing the role of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, we focus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. Here, we first review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based on challenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round out the discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterile neutrin…
Impact of a cryogenic baffle system on the suppression of radon-induced background in the KATRIN Pre-Spectrometer
2018
The KATRIN experiment will determine the effective electron anti-neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 200 meV/c2 at 90% CL. The energy analysis of tritium β-decay electrons will be performed by a tandem setup of electrostatic retarding spectrometers which have to be operated at very low background levels of <10−2 counts per second. This benchmark rate can be exceeded by background processes resulting from the emanation of single 219,220Rn atoms from the inner spectrometer surface and an array of non-evaporable getter strips used as main vacuum pump. Here we report on the impact of a cryogenic technique to reduce this radon-induced background in electrostatic spectrometers. It is based on ins…
Activity monitoring of a gaseous tritium source by beta induced X-ray spectrometry
2013
Abstract For monitoring and control of gaseous tritium sources in fuel circulation systems of fusion reactors beta induced X-ray spectrometry (BIXS) seems to be an applicable method. The characteristics of a BIXS monitoring setup built at TLK were examined. A low-noise silicon drift detector (SDD) was used together with two thin beryllium windows evaporated with gold films of 100 nm for efficient X-ray production. The measured X-ray intensity was proportional to the tritium partial pressure and the average detection efficiency was evaluated as 32.6 × 10−8 cps/Bq. A tritium memory effect was revealed. From the results it was concluded that such a monitoring system would be a useful complemen…