Electro-produced slow positrons

During the last 6 years it has been demonstrated that electro-produced intense beams of slow positrons are possible. High energy electrons from an accelerator generate bremsstrahlung in a thick conversion target of high element number Z. The photons produce electronpositron pairs and a small fraction of the positrons may be moderated to thermal energies. A review is given of the existing slow positron beam lines using this technique. At accelerator energies of 100 MeV total conversion efficiencies of several slow positrons per 10⁶ primary electrons have been obtained, resulting in average intensities of several 10⁹ slow positrons per second or more than 10⁵ slow positrons in pulses having a duration of a few ns. A further increase in intensity by at least one order of magnitude seems possible at higher accelerator energies.     

A positron injector for the LEPTA accumulator

An injector of monochromatic positrons for the low-energy positron accumulator (LEPTA) is being tested at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The source of positrons is the radioactive source ²²Na. At the output of the source, positrons are slowed down in a solid target. Frozen neon is used as a moderator. For this purpose, a system of cryocooling of the source and the neon supply line have been assembled. A method of detection of slow positrons has been developed and tuned. The first experiments with the frozen moderator have been performed. A continuous beam of slow positrons with an average energy of 1.2 eV and spectrum width of 1 eV has been obtained.     

Positron injector for LEPTA

The low energy positron injector for the Low Energy Particle Toroidal Accumulator (LEPTA) accumulator was assembled at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). Key elements of the injector have been tested. The cryogenic source of slow positrons was tested with a test isotope ²²Na of the initial activity of 0.8 MBk. A continuous slow positron beam intensity of 5.8 × 10³ particle per second with an average energy of 1.2 eV and a spectrum width of 1 eV has been obtained. The achieved moderator efficiency is about 1%. The accumulation process in the positron trap was investigated with electron flux. The lifetime of the electrons in the trap, τ_life ≥ 80 s and capture efficiency ɛ ∼ 0.4, were obtained. The maximum number of accumulated particles was N _exper = 2 × 10⁸ at the initial flux of 5 × 10⁶ electrons s⁻¹. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

The E166 experiment: Development of an undulator-based polarized positron source for the international linear collider

A longitudinal polarized positron beam is foreseen for the international linear collider (ILC). A proof-of-principle experiment has been performed in the final focus test beam at SLAC to demonstrate the production of polarized positrons for implementation at the ILC. The E166 experiment uses a 1 m long helical undulator in a 46.6 GeV electron beam to produce a few MeV photons with a high degree of circular polarization. These photons are then converted in a thin target to generate longitudinally polarized e ⁺ and e ⁻. The positron polarization is measured using a Compton transmission polarimeter. The data analysis has shown asymmetries in the expected vicinity of 3.4% and ∼1% for photons and positrons respectively and the expected positron longitudinal polarization is covering a range from 50% to 90%.      

Intense source of slow positrons from pulsed electron accelerators

A pulsed LINAC is used for pair production in a tantalum target of 2.5 radiation lengths in an energy range from 80 to 260 MeV. Several well-annealed tungsten vanes are placed immediately behind the target and thermalize a small fraction of the fast positrons. The slow positrons are extracted from the target region and magnetically guided over a distance of 17 m to the detector at the end of an S-shaped solenoid. Two Nal detectors with well-known detection efficiency are used to register the 511 keV annihilation-rays. To reduce pile-up effects 50 mm of Pb were placed in front of the detectors. At an average electron current of 1 A we could detect about 10⁷ slow positrons per second. The positron yield is proportional to the electron current, and shows an increase with the electron energy for our target. The positron energy distribution has a FWHM of 1.8 eV.     

Positronium spectroscopy at a LINAC-based slow positron source

The slow positron facility TEPOS at the Giessen electron LINAC (36 MeV, 120 μA) has been used to produce an intense beam of moderated positrons which is magnetically guided over a distance of 9 m. At a transportation energy of 100 eV about 10⁶ slow e⁺/s could be extracted out of the magnetic field (0.01 T) and have been electrostatically focussed inside a microwave guide. A small fraction of the positrons form positronium in the excited staten=2. The spontaneous emission of Lyman-α photons (λ=243 nm) from the 2P-states is observed by a photomultiplier. Microwave induced fine-structure transitions 2³S₁?2³P_2,1,0 have been observed at 8617(2), 13010(3) and 18494(2) MHz by an increase of the Lyman-α counting rate. The present errors take into consideration only statistical contributions; systematic errors in the same order of magnitude may originate from frequency dependent variations of the microwave power. The observed linewidth exceeds the natural linewidth of 50 MHz by Doppler-effect and power broadening. Values around 100 MHz could be reached at the lowest applied power levels.     

Electron and positron work functions of Cr(100)

We report measurements of the electron and positron work functions of submonolayer contaminated single crystal surfaces of Cr(100) in ultra high vacuum. The positron work function ø₊ is obtained by measuring the spectrum of slow positrons reemitted by the Cr(100) surface when it is bombarded with keV energy positrons. The electron work function ø_- is measured relative to Al(100) by comparing the target biases at which the slowest emitted positrons are recollected by the target. We obtain ø₊ = ?1.76(10) eV and ø_- = 4.46(6) eV for our Cr(100) surface using the value ø_- = 4.41(3) eV for Al(100) reported by Grepstad, Gartland and Slagsvold. The ø₊ value is in agreement with the ?2.2 eV calculated by Nieminen and Hodges. The positronium work function for Cr implied by these results is ?4.10(10) eV; the positronium negative ion (Ps^-) work function for this surface is calculated to be + 0.37(7) eV. A search for Ps^- showed that at a 90% confidence level less than one in 10³ thermalized positrons reaching the Cr surface are emitted as Ps^-. The slow positron emission spectrum was observed not to change over the 70–300 K range in contrast to recent theoretical predictions.     

Narrow beam emission of slow positrons from negative affinity surfaces

We have measured the angular distribution of the slow positrons (e⁺·) from negative work function (φ⁺) surfaces of Cu and Al bombarded by keV e⁺ in ultrahigh vacuum. In analogy with √-point electrons emitted from negative electron affinity surfaces, the majority (>50%) of the slow e⁺ leave the surface with energy ≈ φ⁺ and velocity within ～20° of the surface normal. This agrees qualitatively with the predictions of a simple 1D model.     

Trapping positrons for low energy antihydrogen production

A method of trapping large numbers of positrons at liquid helium temperatures in a 6 Tesla magnetic field is described. Positrons from a sodium-22 source are moderated to low energies with a tungsten reflection moderator. A Penning trap with hyperbolic electrodes holds the positrons in a magnetron (EXB) orbit. The positrons are then cooled via coupling to a tuned circuit that is in resonance with the axial oscillation of the positrons. At this point, many slow positrons are permanently trapped in the Penning trap. The positrons are centered in the trap by applying a radio-frequency field at a frequency near the sum of the axial and magnetron frequencies. This method promises to produce 10⁶ trapped positrons at a density of 10⁷ to 10⁸ per cm³. Such densities of positrons would be useful in producing antihydrogen in combination with existing antiproton plasmas.     

Correlations between electron and positron workfunctions on copper surfaces

We have performed contact potential difference measurements on low-index faces of copper in ultrahigh vacuum using positrons as positive test particles in a retarding field analyzer. For negative positron affinity surfaces bombarded with keV positrons we also measured energy distributions of reemitted slow positrons and found them to sharply peaked in energy about a value which we label ?φ⁺. Both adsorbing sulfur on a Cu(111) sample and raising its temperature cause changes in φ⁺ which are equal and opposite to the contact potential change of the sample, i.e. the electron workfunction change. This result is in complete accordance with φ⁺ being a measure of the negative positron workfunction of the sample and high temperature or adsorbates inducing a change only in the electrostatic surface dipole layer.     

Positron annihilation in solid krypton and xenon

A computation of the life time of positrons as well as the angular distribution of the resulting gamma pair for polycrystalline krypton and xenon has been made. The calculations are based on the technique employed by Salvadori and Carbotte for the case of solid argon. The field seen by the positrons is constructed from the charge densities derived from Herman-Skillman wave functions. The positron wave functions are obtained using the Wigner-Seitz approximation. For electrons Herman-Skillman wave functions have been used. The computed distributions, when the effects of correlation are ignored, are wider than the experimental ones. The calculated values for the mean lives of positrons for krypton and xenon are 2.2×10⁻⁹ sec and 2.7×10⁻⁹ sec, respectively, and that for xenon is, as usual, longer than the measured value of 0.43×10⁻⁹ sec. Effects of electronpositron correlations on the angular distribution and the life time have been calculated for the case of krypton. When these corrections are taken into account, the life time of positrons in krypton is reduced by a factor of about eight and the angular distribution shows a slight narrowing. Paper A24 presented at 3rd Internat'l Conf. Positron Annihilation, Otaniemi, Finland (August 1973).     

Slow positron facility at the Giessen 65 MeV LINAC

Some details of the Giessen facility TEPOS to produce slow positrons with the pulsed 65 MeV LINAC of the Strahlenzentrum are given. Intensities up to 10⁸ slow positrons per second are achieved.     

Production of intense positron beams at the VEPP-5 injection complex

A source of positrons allowing 5 × 10⁸ positrons accelerated to the energy of 70 MeV to be produced per pulse has been developed. The process of electron-positron pair production in an electromagnetic shower is used for production of positrons. The electromagnetic shower is generated in a tantalum target by a beam of 2 × 10¹⁰ electrons with energy 270 MeV. A high efficiency of positron collection (positron yield Y ≈ 0.1 GeV^?1) is ensured by a unique design of the matching device.     

Trapped positrons for antihydrogen

Positrons from a 12 mCi²²Na source are slowed by a W(110) reflection moderator and then captured in a Penning trap, by damping their motion with a tuned circuit. Because of the stability of the Penning trap and the cryogenic ultra-high vacuum environment, we anticipate that positrons can be accumulated and stored indefinitely. A continuous loading rate of 0.14 e⁺/s is observed for 32 h in this initial demonstration. More than 1.6×10⁴ positrons have thus been trapped and stored at 4 K, with improvements expected. The extremely high vacuum is required for compatibility with an existing antiproton trap, which has already held more than 10⁵ antiprotons at 4 K, for producing antihydrogen at low temperatures. The extremely cold positrons in high vacuum may also prove to be useful for cooling highly stripped ions.     

High-intensity and high-brightness source of moderated positrons using a brilliant γ beam

Presently, large efforts are conducted toward the development of highly brilliant γ beams via Compton back scattering of photons from a high-brilliance electron beam, either on the basis of a normal-conducting electron linac or a (super-conducting) Energy Recovery Linac (ERL). Particularly, ERLs provide an extremely brilliant electron beam, thus enabling the generation of highest-quality γ beams. A 2.5 MeV γ beam with an envisaged intensity of 10¹⁵ photons s⁻¹, as ultimately envisaged for an ERL-based γ-beam facility, narrow band width (10⁻³), and extremely low emittance (10⁻⁴ mm² mrad²) offers the possibility to produce a high-intensity bright polarized positron beam. Pair production in a face-on irradiated W converter foil (200 μm thick, 10 mm long) would lead to the emission of 2×10¹³ (fast) positrons per second, which is four orders of magnitude higher compared to strong radioactive ²²Na sources conventionally used in the laboratory. Using a stack of converter foils and subsequent positron moderation, a high-intensity low-energy beam of moderated positrons can be produced. Two different source setups are presented: a high-brightness positron beam with a diameter as low as 0.2 mm, and a high-intensity beam of 3×10¹¹ moderated positrons per second. Hence, profiting from an improved moderation efficiency, the envisaged positron intensity would exceed that of present high-intensity positron sources by a factor of 100.     

GBAR

The GBAR project aims to perform the first test of the Equivalence Principle with antimatter by measuring the free fall of ultra-cold antihydrogen atoms. The objective is to measure the gravitational acceleration to better than a percent in a first stage, with a long term perspective to reach a much higher precision using gravitational quantum states of antihydrogen. The production of ~20 μK atoms proceeds via sympathetic cooling of $\mathrm{\overline{H}^+}$ ions by Be^?+? ions. $\mathrm{\overline{H}^+}$ ions are produced via a two-step process, involving the interaction of bursts of 10⁷ slow antiprotons from the AD (or ELENA upgrade) at CERN with a dense positronium cloud. In order to produce enough positronium, it is necessary to realize an intense source of slow positrons, a few 10⁸ per second. This is done with a small electron linear accelerator. A few 10¹⁰ positrons are accumulated every cycle in a Penning–Malmberg trap before they are ejected onto a positron-to-positronium converter. The overall scheme of the experiment is described and the status of the installation of the prototype positron source at Saclay is shown. The accumulation scheme of positrons is given, and positronium formation results are presented. The estimated performance and efficiency of the various steps of the experiment are given.     

Production of slow positrons with the Giessen 65 MeV LINAC

The experimental arrangement to produce the slow positrons with the Giessen 65 MeV LINAC is described. Some results of obtained slow positron yields are shown. At the present a maximum intensity of 1.05×10⁸ slow positrons per second is measured at the detector place. Actually we are optimizing different parameters of our experimental facility.This paper is based upon a talk given by F. E. at the Intl. Symposium Production of Low-Energy Positrons with Accelerators and Applications (Giessen 1986)     

A theoretical study of low-energy position diffraction

In an exploratory study of the diffraction of slow positrons from atoms and single-crystal surfaces, theoretical intensity and spin polarization results from a W crystal-atom and a W(001) surface are compared to corresponding electron diffraction results obtained with and without an exchange potential. In contrast to e^- diffraction, significant spin polarization effects are found for e⁺ only at energies above about 100 eV. The computing time for e⁺ is about half of the time required for e^-.     

Construction and timing system of the EPOS beam system

The Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf provides an intense pulsed 40 MeV electron beam with high brilliance and low emittance (ELBE). The pulse has a length of 1-10 ps and a repetition time of 77 ns, or in slow mode 616 ns. The EPOS system (ELBE Positron Source) generates by pair production on a tungsten converter and a tungsten moderator an intense pulsed beam of mono-energetic positrons. To transport the positrons to the laboratory (12 m) we constructed a magnetic beam guidance system with a longitudinal magnetic field of 75 G. In the laboratory outside the cave, the positron beam is chopped and bunched according to the time structure, because the very sharp bunch structure of the electron pulses is broadened for the positron beam due to transport and moderation.     

Intense slow positron production at the 15 MeV LINAC at Argonne National Laboratory

An intense slow positron beam using a 15 MeV LINAC (average current 1.25 × 10¹⁵ e⁻/s) at the Radiation and Photochemistry Group, Chemistry Division of Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has been proposed and studied. Computer simulated results optimizing the positron yield and distribution of energy and angle show that a slow positron production at 10¹⁰ e⁺/s is possible. A proposed design of an intense slow positron beam with optimal conditions of incident electron, converter/moderator configurations, and extraction/transportation is presented.