The novel five-Penning trap mass spectrometer Pentatrap is developed at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK), Heidelberg. Ions of interest are long-lived highly charged nuclides up to bare uranium. Pentatrap aims for an accuracy of a few parts in 10 12 for mass ratios of mass doublets. A physics program for Pentatrap includes Q-values measurements of β-transitions relevant for neutrino physics, stringent tests of quantum electrodynamics in the regime of extreme electric fields, and a test of special relativity. Main features of Pentatrap are an access to a source of highly charged ions, a multi-trap configuration, simultaneous measurements of frequencies, a continuous precise monitoring of magnetic field fluctuations, a fast exchange between different ions, and a highly sensitive cryogenic non-destructive detection system. This paper gives a motivation for the new mass spectrometer Pentatrap, presents its experimental setup, and describes the present status.
In the search for the nuclide with the largest probability for neutrinoless double-electron capture, we have determined the Q(ϵϵ) value between the ground states of (152)Gd and (152)Sm by Penning-trap mass-ratio measurements. The new Q(ϵϵ) value of 55.70(18) keV results in a half-life of 10(26) yr for a 1 eV neutrino mass. With this smallest half-life among known 0νϵϵ transitions, (152)Gd is a promising candidate for the search for neutrinoless double-electron capture.
A novel Penning trap tower consisting of five compensated cylindrical Penning traps is developed for the PENTATRAP mass spectrometer at the MaxPlanck-Institut für Kernphysik in Heidelberg, Germany. An analytical expression for the electrostatic potential inside the trap tower is derived to calculate standard Penning trap properties like the compensation of anharmonicities and an orthogonal geometry of the trap electrodes. Since the PENTATRAP project described in the preceding article aims for ultra high-precision massratio measurements of highly charged ions up to uranium, systematic effects for highly charged ions inside the trap tower are considered for the design process as well. Finally, a limit due to remaining anharmonic shifts at large amplitudes is estimated for the resulting geometry, which is important for phase-sensitive measurements of the reduced cyclotron frequency of the ions.
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