Operation Modes of the KATRIN Experiment Tritium Loop System using ${}^{83\mathrm{m}}$Kr

Abstract

The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment aims to search for the effective electron antineutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV (90 % C.L.). In order to achieve this goal, KATRIN measurement phases focusing on the neutrino mass search are alternated with phases of investigations of systematic effects. During these phases, metastable ${}^{83\mathrm{m}}$Kr is used as a calibration source. The monoenergetic conversion electrons emitted accompanying the decay of ${}^{83\mathrm{m}}$Kr allow a direct access to the starting conditions of $\beta$-electrons produced inside the windowless gaseous tritium source (WGTS) of KATRIN. To make use of ${}^{83\mathrm{m}}$Kr in the WGTS, the Tritium Loop System, which provides a stable flow of tritium to the WGTS, needs to be operated in special modes. This paper focuses on the technical implementation of these modes and their performance with regard to the achievable ${}^{83\mathrm{m}}$Kr-rates, gas densities, and gas compositions inside the WGTS.

24 pages, 13 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Direct Measurements of Neutrino Mass
• The Design, Construction, and Commissioning of the KATRIN Experiment
• Analysis methods for the first KATRIN neutrino-mass measurement
• Neutral tritium gas reduction in the KATRIN differential pumping sections
• Precision measurement of the electron energy-loss function in tritium and deuterium gas for the KATRIN experiment

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Direct neutrino-mass measurement based on 259 days of KATRIN data
• KATRIN: Status and Prospects for the Neutrino Mass and Beyond
• Measurement of the electric potential and the magnetic field in the shifted analysing plane of the KATRIN experiment
• Measurement of the inhomogeneity of the KATRIN tritium source electric potential by high-resolution spectroscopy of conversion electrons from ${}^{83m}$Kr