Göttingen 2025 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik
P 19: Low Pressure Plasmas and their Applications II
P 19.4: Talk
Thursday, April 3, 2025, 12:00–12:15, ZHG006
Characterization of a plasma source for atomic tritium — •David Frese for the KAMATE collaboration — Tritiumlabor Karlsruhe am Institut für Astroteilchenphysik, KIT
The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment will determine a neutrino mass with a sensitivity of <0.3 eV by electron spectroscopy of the tritium beta-decay spectrum. In order to improve the sensitivity on the neutrino mass down to inverted mass ordering range or below new technologies are necessary. One proposed improvement is to use atomic tritium instead of molecular tritium. In the beta-decay of the T-atom, the intrinsic molecular broadening of about 0.4 eV is absent in the beta-decay spectrum.
The first step in generating a source based on tritium atoms is the dissociation of T2. Therefore, various atomic tritium dissociators need to be commissioned and characterized. To address this challenge, the joint Karlsruhe Mainz Atomic Tritium Experiment (KAMATE) group was established to investigate potential atomic tritium sources. The performance of commercial dissociators is studied initially by non-radioactive hydrogen and deuterium, before transitioning to experiments with substantial amounts of tritium.
This talk presents the dissociation concept of a plasma source and highlights its advantages and disadvantages. The plasma operation may sputter off boron nitride from the cavity walls which would be detrimental for the operation. This process will be investigated in a dedicated setup. After that, the atomic fraction of the plasma dissociator outlet is studied by mass spectrometry.
Keywords: neutrino mass; atomic tritium; plasma source