Technical design and commissioning of the KATRIN large-volume air coil system

Abstract

The KATRIN experiment is a next-generation direct neutrino mass experiment with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV (90% C.L.) to the effective mass of the electron neutrino. It measures the tritium $\beta$-decay spectrum close to its endpoint with a spectrometer based on the MAC-E filter technique. The $\beta$-decay electrons are guided by a magnetic field that operates in the mT range in the central spectrometer volume; it is fine-tuned by a large-volume air coil system surrounding the spectrometer vessel. The purpose of the system is to provide optimal transmission properties for signal electrons and to achieve efficient magnetic shielding against background. In this paper we describe the technical design of the air coil system, including its mechanical and electrical properties. We outline the importance of its versatile operation modes in background investigation and suppression techniques. We compare magnetic field measurements in the inner spectrometer volume during system commissioning with corresponding simulations, which allows to verify the system's functionality in fine-tuning the magnetic field configuration. This is of major importance for a successful neutrino mass measurement at KATRIN.

arXiv comment32 pages, 16 figures

References in corpus (10)

• Evidence for oscillation of atmospheric neutrinos
• Neutrino mass limit from tritium beta decay
• Current Direct Neutrino Mass Experiments
• Focal-plane detector system for the KATRIN experiment
• Kassiopeia: A Modern, Extensible C++ Particle Tracking Package
• Radon induced background processes in the KATRIN pre-spectrometer
• Background due to stored electrons following nuclear decays in the KATRIN spectrometers and its impact on the neutrino mass sensitivity
• Commissioning of the vacuum system of the KATRIN Main Spectrometer
• Measurement of the gas-flow reduction factor of the KATRIN DPS2-F differential pumping section
• A mobile Magnetic Sensor Unit for the KATRIN Main Spectrometer

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• First operation of the KATRIN experiment with tritium
• First transmission of electrons and ions through the KATRIN beamline
• The KATRIN Superconducting Magnets: Overview and First Performance Results
• Muon-induced background in the KATRIN main spectrometer
• Gamma-induced background in the KATRIN main spectrometer
• Background reduction at the KATRIN experiment by the shifted analysing plane configuration
• Suppression of Penning discharges between the KATRIN spectrometers
• Technical design and commissioning of the sensor net for fine meshed measuring of magnetic field at KATRIN Spectrometer
• Reduction of stored-particle background by a magnetic pulse method at the KATRIN experiment
• Measurement of the electric potential and the magnetic field in the shifted analysing plane of the KATRIN experiment