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The source stage (see figure 3.1.2) is designed to produce a moderated beam of positrons from a radioactive source. The source stage was manufactured by First Point Scientific, Inc. and includes the source assembly, vacuum system and solenoids for radial beam confinement and additional coils for velocity discrimina- tion. It also includes a cryogenic coldhead and gas handling setup which are used to grow solid neon moderators. The sources stage pressures and temperatures and monitored continuously through Labview software. A substantial amount of radiation shielding, in the form of lead shot, surrounds the source assembly to reduce exposure to ionising radiation.
Radioactive Source
The positron source used is the radioactive isotope Sodium-22 (22Na) which has a half life of 2.6 years and the source in these experiments has an initial activity level of 50 mCi. Positrons are produced through β+ decay in the decay process
22 11Na → 22 10Ne +e ++ν e+γ(1.27 M eV) (3.1.1)
which produces positrons in ∼91% of decays, with the other 9% of 22Na isotopes
decay through electron capture and do not produce positrons (Allen et al., 1955). The positrons emitted by the source have a wide energy range up to 0.54 MeV (Allen et al., 1955). A solid neon moderator is used to reduce this energy spread to produce the more monochromatic beam necessary for low energy scattering experiments.
The source is held in a Halle-b type mount constructed from elkonite (a dense material with a 7:3 ratio of tungsten to copper) covered in a thin layer of titanium.
(a)Source Stage
copper block
source mount and source
moderator cone
(b)Source Mount
Figure 3.1.2: a) Schematic of the source stage, reproduced from Jones (2010). The beam tube extends from the saddle coils, downstream from the source, and is blocked by a gate valve. b) Schematic of the source mount including the conical copper moderator cone where the moderator is grown.
3.1. Trap and Beam Formation 29
The dense elkonite and titanium mount increases positron intensity by reflecting positrons which are ejected backwards. The source mount is attached to a solid copper block and faces a conical copper surface upon which the moderator is grown (see figure 3.1.2b). The copper block is situated on top of a cryogenic coldhead assembly (Advanced Research Systems, model DE204) which is capable of keeping the copper surface at a constant temperature of 7-8.5 K to facilitate the growth of a solid neon moderator. The moderator efficiency, defined as the ratio between the number of positrons in the beam compared to the number of positrons emitted by the source, is∼1% and the energy spread of the beam after moderation is 1.5-2 eV (Mills and Gullikson, 1986) confirmed in this experimental setup by Jones (2010)).
The radioactive decay of 22Na produces high energy γ rays, thus requiring
shielding to provide a safe working environment. The source assembly is sur- rounded by an elkonite block, the dense material providing some shielding and this is contained within a vacuum system. The whole system is then encapsulated in a lead shot filled canister, providing around 10 cm of shielding. Due to the positioning of the vacuum system, some additional external lead shielding is in- cluded to reduce theγ ray solid angle, for example at the join between the beam tube and the source assembly. Overall, the shielding reduces ionising radiation to background levels at a distance of ∼1 m.
Source Stage Vacuum System
The vacuum in the source stage is provided by a turbomolecular (turbo) pump, backed by a mechanical roughing pump capable of achieving pressures of 10−3Torr.
Additional pumping is provided by the coldhead, although this can have a neg- ative impact on the experimental setup as impurities in the moderator reduce its efficiency. To mediate this, the coldhead is pumped and baked thoroughly before initial operation. Generally, the background gases in the source chamber should be mostly neon with some nitrogen from the trap. The source stage vac- uum system produces a vacuum of 10−9 Torr without a moderator and 10−7 Torr
under normal operating conditions with a moderator, which is consistent with the vapour pressure at 7 K.
Figure 3.1.3: Schematic of the source stage coldhead viewed from underneath the source stage assembly, reproduced from Jones (2010).
The Coldhead
The coldhead is manufactured by Advanced Research Systems and is model DE204, a schematic view of its attachment is shown in figure 3.1.3. It uses the compression and expansion of ultra high purity helium gas to cool through two stages, the first can achieve 30 K and the second is capable of producing tem- peratures as low as 5 K. However, due to the thermal mass of the source assembly the achieved minimum temperature is 6.5 K. The required temperature for solid neon moderator growth is only around 7 to 10 K, well within the capabilities of the coldhead. The coldhead temperature is maintained through use of a heating element positioned around 10 cm above the source mount, this element is used to provide consistent temperatures for the moderator growth cycle and mainte- nance. A Cryo-Con 34 Temperature Controller monitors a diode attached to the top of the source mount block and is able to record and maintain temperature with a precision of 0.1 K.
Moderator Gas System
Moderators are generally grown in an automated process made possible by the moderator gas handling system shown in the schematic in figure 3.1.4. Ultra high purity neon gas (99.999%) neon is attached to a pressure regulator set at ∼5 to 10 atm. A computer-controlled piezoelectric needle valve admits neon gas into
3.1. Trap and Beam Formation 31
Figure 3.1.4: Schematic of the moderator gas handling system, reproduced from Jones (2010).
the source stage and the pressure of the neon gas is monitored by a Proportional- Integral-Derivative (PID) controller close to the needle valve. During the growth period, the pressure at this point is 1×10−4 Torr. Following growth, the needle
valve is closed and the residual neon gas is removed by the turbo pump.
Magnetic Confinement and Guidance
Moderated positrons need to be extracted and guided from the moderator region along the beam tube and into the rest of the beamline. This is done through the use of electric and magnetic fields. In the moderator region there are a pair of Helmholtz coils, shown in figure 3.1.2, with diameters of 15 cm, providing a magnetic field of 88 G. A positive potential bias is applied to the moderator to accelerate positrons away from this area and towards the beam tube, where a solenoid applies an axial magnetic field of 273 G. There are two non-axial saddle coils which produce a ‘kink’ in the magnetic field. Moderated positrons follow the field lines and are guided up, through the off-axis beam tube, and down, through the on-axis beam tube, whereas unmoderated positrons hit the shielding and annihilate. Therefore only moderated positrons are extracted beyond the source stage.
In addition to the main source stage solenoids, there is one at the the beam tube gate valve and a second at end station one which produces a magnetic field perpendicular to the beam axis. These are used to provide fine tuning of
the magnetic field, allowing for optimisation of the beam alignment between the source and trap stages. The magnets use water cooling to prevent overheating and damage and the temperature of the beam tube magnet is monitored and connected to an interlock system to turn off the solenoid power supplies if it rises above 70 ◦C.