Eur. Phys. J. C (2017) 77: 410
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-4972-9

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

A pulsed, mono-energetic and angular-selective UV photo-electron source for the commissioning of the KATRIN experiment

¹ Institut für Kernphysik, WWU Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 9, 48149, Münster, Germany
² IEKP, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
³ Institut für Physik, Johannes-Gutenberg Universität, 55099, Mainz, Germany
⁴ IKP, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O. box 3640, 76021, Karlsruhe, Germany
⁵ IPE, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Phillips Hall, CB 3255, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3255, USA
⁷ IEKP, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

^* e-mail: jan.behrens@kit.edu

Received: 17 March 2017
Accepted: 3 June 2017
Published online: 19 June 2017

Abstract

The KATRIN experiment aims to determine the neutrino mass scale with a sensitivity of 200  (90% C. L.) by a precision measurement of the shape of the tritium -spectrum in the endpoint region. The energy analysis of the decay electrons is achieved by a MAC-E filter spectrometer. To determine the transmission properties of the KATRIN main spectrometer, a mono-energetic and angular-selective electron source has been developed. In preparation for the second commissioning phase of the main spectrometer, a measurement phase was carried out at the KATRIN monitor spectrometer where the device was operated in a MAC-E filter setup for testing. The results of these measurements are compared with simulations using the particle-tracking software “Kassiopeia”, which was developed in the KATRIN collaboration over recent years.