2011/11/21 by Michael Sturm, Sturm, Michael
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) #Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) #Muon and positron interactions and applications #Neutrino Physics Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1111.4773
openalex publication_date 2011/11/21 · openalex created_date 2022/10/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment KATRIN will allow a model\nindependent measurement of the neutrino mass scale with an expected sensitivity\nof 0.2 eV/c2 (90% C.L.) and so will help to clarify the role of neutrinos in\nthe early universe is the direct measurement of the mass of the electron\nanti-neutrino. KATRIN investigates spectroscopically the electron spectrum from\ntritium beta- decay close to the kinematic endpoint of 18.6 keV with a high\nresolution electro-static filter of unprecedented energy resolution of 0.93 eV.\nKATRIN will be built at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe on site of the KIT\nCampus North. For such a precise mass-determination a key parameter is the\nstability of the source in terms of beta-activity und isotopic purity. For that\npurpose KATRIN uses a strong windowless gaseous tritium source of almost pure\nmolecular tritium (95%) with a throughput of 40 g tritium per day stabilized on\n0.1% level. The decay electrons are guided adiabatically from the source to the\nspectrometer by means of superconducting magnets while at the same time the\ntritium flow rate to the spectrometers has to be reduced by a factor > 1E14. To\nreach the sensitivity KATRIN is aiming for, an high energy resolution as well\nas high statistics and low background are needed. A tandem spectrometer system\nis used for energy analysis. The transport section consists of a differential\npumping system (DPS2-F) and a cryogenic pumping section (CPS). In the DPS2-F\nthe tritium flow will be reduced by differential pumping while in the CPS\ntritium will be adsorbed on a pre-condensed argon layer prepared inside\nKATRIN's beamtube. To assure the required stability of the source on 0.1% level\na stabilized tritium injection in the source is required. This is done by\nclosed tritium loops. The purity and composition of the injected gas will be\nmonitored by Laser Raman spectroscopy.\n