https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-8278-y
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Suppression of Penning discharges between the KATRIN spectrometers
1
Institute for Technical Physics (ITEP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
2
Institute for Nuclear Physics (IKP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
3
Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
4
IRFU (DPhP & APC), CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
5
Institute for Data Processing and Electronics (IPE), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
6
Institute of Experimental Particle Physics (ETP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Wolfgang-Gaede-Str. 1, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany
7
Institute for Nuclear Research of Russian Academy of Sciences, 60th October Anniversary Prospect 7a, 117312, Moscow, Russia
8
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
9
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, Föhringer Ring 6, 80805, Munich, Germany
10
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, 27599, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
11
Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, 27708, Durham, NC, USA
12
Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119, Wuppertal, Germany
13
Departamento de Química Física Aplicada, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain
14
Department of Physics, Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, University of Washington, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA
15
Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS, v. v. i., 250 68, Řež, Czech Republic
16
Institut für Kernphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 9, 48149, Münster, Germany
17
Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Nussallee 14-16, 53115, Bonn, Germany
18
Laboratory for Nuclear Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA
19
Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
20
Nuclear Science Division, Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA
21
University of Applied Sciences (HFD) Fulda, Leipziger Str. 123, 36037, Fulda, Germany
22
Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, 44106, Cleveland, OH, USA
23
Institut für Physik, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099, Mainz, Germany
24
Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstr. 15, 12489, Berlin, Germany
25
Project, Process, and Quality Management (PPQ), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Received:
4
December
2019
Accepted:
23
July
2020
Published online:
4
September
2020
The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) aims to determine the effective electron (anti)-neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2eV/c
by precisely measuring the endpoint region of the tritium 
-decay spectrum. It uses a tandem of electrostatic spectrometers working as magnetic adiabatic collimation combined with an electrostatic (MAC-E) filters. In the space between the pre-spectrometer and the main spectrometer, creating a Penning trap is unavoidable 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 additional background electrons and endanger the spectrometer and detector section downstream. To counteract this problem, “electron catchers” were installed in the beamline inside the magnet bore between the two spectrometers. These catchers can be moved across the magnetic-flux tube and intercept on a sub-ms time scale the stored electrons along their magnetron motion paths. In this paper, we report on the design and the successful commissioning of the electron catchers and present results on their efficiency in reducing the experimental background.
© The Author(s) 2020
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Funded by SCOAP3
