CERN: The ATRAP Experiment Preview Overview of the ATRAP Experiment History Ongoing work Goals Presentation of my jobs and projects History Evolved from the TRAP Collaboration One of the first groups to significantly slow antiprotons The Experiment Three phases: Use antiprotons from the AD to construct antihydrogen Use drastically slowed antiprotons to make cold antihydrogen Trap and stack the cold antihydrogen Phase I Antiprotons from the AD are directed into the vertical trap using magnetic fields Positrons from a radioactive source enter the trap from above The two streams of particles combine to form high energy antihydrogen Phase I has been successfully completed Diagram of Trap Phase II Slow antiprotons in the trap Incoming antiprotons ~5-6MeV Slowed antiprotons cooled to ~4K Add positrons to make cold antihydrogen Phase II has been successfully completed Picture of Trap Phase III Trap the cold antihydrogen atoms Using a quadrupole magnet, make a non- uniform magnetic field in the trap Neutral antihydrogen atoms will drift towards the region where the field is weakest Phase III (cont.) Use laser spectroscopy to study the trapped antihydrogen Compare the properties of the antihydrogen with hydrogen The ATRAP team is currently working on Phase III Two Zones All previous experimentation has been done in a single zone Second zone under construction to allow further and more extensive tests Zone 2 Contains significantly larger superconducting magnet Allows a larger trap that can be used for further experimentation Trap used in Zone 1 can only contain small clouds of particles Larger diameter of trap in Zone 2 will allow containment of larger clouds of particles My Projects Helping maintain current experimental equipment in Zone 1 Assisting ATRAP team members prepare Zone 2 for initial testing Work in Zone 1 Daily tasks Kept the magnets and trap at 4K by helping to refill the liquid Helium reservoirs Minor Projects Monitored stress on magnet during ramp up testing Heat treated the reflection moderator Reflection Moderator (R-Mod) Polished 2mm tungsten crystal Multiple applications for antihydrogen production Facilitate manufacture of Rydberg positronium Produce cold plasmas of pure positrons R-Mod Preventive Maintenance Moderator must be purified periodically to ensure proper operation Purification technique involves heat treating the r-mod Heat Treatment Procedure Moderator is placed in an evacuated oxygen atmosphere (P~1x10 -6 Torr) Bake off impurities Heated by an electron beam to 1200 C for 30 minutes Held at 2150 C for 5 minutes with oxygen atmosphere reduced (P~1x10 -7 Torr) Heat Treatment Procedure (cont.) Pressure closely monitored while the moderator is at the higher temperature After a series of repetitions, the pressure increase falls below predefined threshold Moderator slowly brought back to room temperature Heat Treatment Setup Work in Zone 2 Help Prepare Zone 2 for initial testing Installation of safety equipment Fabricate circuits for measurement devices Preparation of Faraday Cage Circuit Fabrication Trap usage requires rapid voltage and power swings Special relay circuits designed to achieve the desired results Faraday Cage Preparation Making and running shielded cables from the zone to the cage Setting up computer for remote operation of equipment in the zone Installing variety of measuring equipment Faraday Cage Preparation (cont.) Conclusion Ultimate goal of ATRAP is to produce, contain, and study cold antihydrogen My ATRAP experience was multifaceted Tasks in Zone 1 entailed working on an ongoing experiment Work in Zone 2 involved the preparation and planning before the beginning of an experiment Questions?