The open LPC Paul trap for precision measurements in beta decay

We present a statistical model to calculate the spatial and energy properties of an ion cloud in a Paul trap. In this model, we consider the collision between the ions and the molecules of background gases as the reason to cause the quasistable state of an ion cloud. The space-charge potential in an ion cloud is taken into account by a self-consistent method. From the real parameters of a Paul trap the properties of an ion cloud can be computed. The comparison between the calculated and experimental results shows good agreement. The influences of background gases and space charge on the properties of ion clouds are studied. Our calculation shows that laser cooling does not work when the number of confined ions is larger than 106.

Optimization of RF multipole ion trap geometries

Simulation of ion behavior in an open three-dimensional Paul trap using a power series method

Plasma jet normally operates in a regime of positive or negative streamers. Different propagating behaviors have been investigated for positive streamers. However, there are few studies on negative streamers. In this paper, a two-dimensional fluid model is used to simulate the behavior of a negative streamer encountered with a cloud of positive ions. Simulation results indicate that the negative streamer behaves like a free streamer when the ion cloud has a low charge density. After initiation near the needle tip, the streamer propagates along the axis, passes through the ion cloud, and finally reaches the anode vicinity along a straight line. When the streamer reaches the ion cloud, its head radius (R0) is investigated as a function of parameters, including the voltage amplitude and the gap width, as well as the charge density, axial position, and spatial size of the ion cloud. At a given moment, electric field strength and electron density near the streamer head increase with increasing charge density of the ion cloud. In the case of a high charge-density ion cloud, after a primary streamer propagates some distance along the axis, a positive secondary streamer, and a negative secondary streamer start to propagate from the cloud to the cathode and the anode, respectively.

Using Thomas-Fermi Theory, we deal with the motion of a trapped ion cloud with conserved total angular momentum in thermal equilibrium at zero temperature. It is shown that in the case of high magnetic field (≧600 kG) the motion of an electron cloud trapped in a Penning trap would be modified by quantum effects. Under the present laboratory conditions the quantum effects are negligible for the motion of a Mg+24 ion cloud trapped in a Paul trap.

We use the Fokker-Planck equation and model the dispersive dynamics of solid particles in annular protoplanetary disks whose gas component is more massive than the particle phase. We model particle--gas interactions as hard sphere collisions, determine the functional form of diffusion coefficients, and show the existence of two global unstable modes in the particle phase. These modes have spiral patterns with the azimuthal wavenumber $m=1$ and rotate slowly. We show that in ring-shaped disks, the phase space density of solid particles increases linearly in time towards an accumulation point near the location of pressure maximum, while instabilities grow exponentially. Therefore, planetesimals and planetary cores can be efficiently produced near the peaks of unstable density waves. In this mechanism, particles migrating towards the accumulation point will not participate in the formation of planets, and should eventually form a debris ring like the main asteroid belt or classical Kuiper belt objects. We present the implications of global instabilities to the formation of ice giants and terrestrial planets in the solar system.

The photodissociation of rhodamine 575 cations held in a quadrupole ion trap is studied using 514 nm light as a function of buffer gas pressure, irradiation time, and laser fluence. The laser-induced photodissociation decays of rhodamine ions have lifetimes on the order of seconds for the range of pressures and powers investigated and exhibit strong nonlinear pressure dependence. Dissociation mechanisms are considered that involve the sequential absorption of multiple photons and several collisional deactivation steps.

We report on the status of an experiment aiming to determine the angular correlation coefficient between the electron and the anti‐neutrino in the pure Gamow‐Teller decay of 6He. Such measurement is motivated by the search for the presence of tensor type contributions to the weak interaction. The experiment uses a setup where 6He ions are confined in a novel transparent Paul trap. Electrons and recoiling ions are detected in coincidence to deduce the angular correlation coefficient. First direct in trap decays have been recorded.

Measurement of collision-induced dissociation rates for tantalum oxide ions in a quadrupole ion trap

A theoretical method was proposed in this work to study space charge effects in quadrupole ion traps, including ion trapping, ion motion frequency shift, and nonlinear effects on ion trajectories. The spatial distributions of ion clouds within quadrupole ion traps were first modeled for both 3D and linear ion traps. It is found that the electric field generated by space charge can be expressed as a summation of even-order fields, such as quadrupole field, octopole field, etc. Ion trajectories were then solved using the harmonic balance method. Similar to high-order field effects, space charge will result in an "ocean wave" shape nonlinear resonance curve for an ion under a dipolar excitation. However, the nonlinear resonance curve will be totally shifted to lower frequencies and bend towards ion secular frequency as ion motion amplitude increases, which is just the opposite effect of any even-order field. Based on theoretical derivations, methods to reduce space charge effects were proposed.

Increasing the amount of anthropogenic aerosols over the Himalayas modulate cloud properties, thereby altering cloud phase and cloud height, consequently influence formation and distribution of orographic precipitation. Moreover, further rises in global temperature may influence cloud properties by the ‘Clausius—Clapeyron effect’, which increases moisture holding capacity of air. This study presents sensitivity of simulated cloud properties to aerosol and temperature perturbations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, coupled with a bulk microphysics scheme, in a convection permitting configuration applied to a complex topographical region, the Nepal Himalayas. We find that the effect of aerosol on the simulated rainfall is nonlinear, ranging from −3% to +4% depending on the investigated aerosol perturbation scenarios. The model results highlight a realistic simulation of the 1st indirect (Twomey) effect. However, the rainfall was not overly sensitive to the aerosol perturbations and not statistically significant at the 95% confidence interval. The oversimplified parameterization of ice phase processes, a dominant cloud formation process over the Himalayas, appears to play a crucial role in buffering the sensitivity to increased aerosol loading. Our results, however, show that aerosol perturbations may modify shape, size and spatial distribution of individual cloud and their precipitation production. In contrast, the impact of temperature perturbations is more than the aerosol effect, ranging from −17% to +93%, which is statistically significant at the 95% confidence interval, suggesting that more intense rain events are likely as the climate warms in this region.

Methods to reduce mass shifts caused by space charge with mass-selective axial ejection from a linear quadrupole ion trap are investigated. For axial ejection, dipole excitation is applied to excite ions at q ≈ 0.85. The trapping radiofrequency (rf) voltage is scanned to bring ions of different m/z values into resonance for excitation. In the fringing field at the quadrupole exit, excited ions gain axial kinetic energy, overcoming the trapping potential, and are ejected from the trap. Space charge causes the frequencies of ion oscillation to decrease. Thus, greater rf voltages are required to bring ions into resonance for excitation and ejection, and the ions shift to higher apparent masses in a mass spectrum. At the same time, the peaks broaden, lowering resolution. The effects of injection q value, ejection q value, excitation amplitude, quadrupole dc voltages applied to the electrodes, applying an rf voltage to the exit lens, and scan speed, on mass shifts have been studied experimentally. Most experiments were done with only ions of protonated reserpine (m/z 609.3 and its isotopic peaks) in the trap. Some experiments were done with ions of protonated reserpine and ions of m/z 622 in the trap. In general, the mass shifts are reduced with higher ejection q values, higher excitation amplitudes, with quadrupole dc applied, and at higher scan speeds. The application of quadrupole dc appears to increase the ion cloud temperature, which lowers mass shifts. Thus, a proper choice of operating conditions can reduce, but not eliminate, mass shifts caused by space charge.

An algorithm has been developed to retrieve the vertical profiles of cloud microphysical properties from the surface observation based on three radars operated at three microwave bands (X-band, Ka-band, and W-band) and a microwave-radiometer. This algorithm has the advantage that it can be applied to any mixing condition of liquid and ice particles in clouds (i.e., pure-water clouds, pure-ice clouds, and mixed-phase clouds). To precisely treat the scattering processes of the radar waves in clouds, we pay attention to non-sphericity of ice-particles and radar wave attenuation by scattering, which are frequently neglected in the previous studies. The hexagonal ice-particles with various aspect ratios are considered. On the other hand, the observational data used in this algorithm need two assumptions: 1) the observed cloud does not contain precipitating and melting particles, and 2) the water vapor profiles are approximated by successive steady-state representations. The accuracy of the radar calibration required for this algorithm would be within ±0.1 dB, which is about the order of uncertainty of radar measurements. In the retrieval procedure, the mixing condition of water-droplets and ice-particles in the target cloud sub-layer can be identified by utilizing the wavelength-dependence of the scattering and attenuation properties. Once the mixing condition of the cloud sub-layer is determined, the microphysical properties of pure-water and pure-ice clouds are estimated by the algorithm, similar to the widely-used dual-wavelength technique, except for the fact that in the present algorithm, an equivalent aspect ratio of ice-particles can be estimated, in addition to ice-water-content and ice-particle size of pure-ice clouds. For mixed-phase clouds, the microphysical profiles, which satisfy the observed radar and microwave radiometer signals, can be estimated by iteratively changing aspect ratios of ice-particles in each sublayer. The retrieval algorithm is applied to the observational data obtained in the Vertically Pointing Measurements, Tsukuba, 2001 (VPM_TKB01). The retrieved microphysical profiles for the pure-ice clouds show reasonable performance of the present algorithm, although there are no in-situ measurements to validate the estimated values.

The application of traps to precision measurements of the β-ν angular correlation coefficient a in nuclear β-decay is pursued by several laboratories world wide. Various nuclear transitions are addressed and different trap devices are used. At GANIL, a novel transparent Paul trap (LPCTrap) has been built downstream from the SPIRAL source to determine a in the pure Gamow-Teller decay of 6He. This transition is driven by the axial-vector interaction. The forbidden tensor interaction may be observed through a precise measurement of a. The LPCTrap consists of an RFQ-Buncher, a transparent Paul trap, and the detection system. It is currently the only facility that uses a Paul trap with a novel geometry to perform high-precision nuclear physics experiments. All the elements have been tested and meet the requirements. In this contribution we give a short status report of the project underlining the highlights achieved so far.

Determination of ion frequencies in a quadrupole ion trap by using a fast direct current pulse as pump and a laser probe