A. Špalek

Ultra-stable implanted 83Rb/83mKr electron sources for the energy scale monitoring in the KATRIN experiment

The KATRIN experiment aims at the direct model-independent determination of the average electron neutrino mass via the measurement of the endpoint region of the tritium beta decay spectrum. The electron spectrometer of the MAC-E filter type is used, requiring very high stability of the electric filtering potential. This work proves the feasibility of implanted 83Rb/83mKr calibration electron sources which will be utilised in the additional monitor spectrometer sharing the high voltage with the main spectrometer of KATRIN. The source employs conversion electrons of 83mKr which is continuously generated by 83Rb. The K–32 conversion line (kinetic energy of 17.8 keV, natural line width of 2.7 eV) is shown to fulfill the KATRIN requirement of the relative energy stability of ±1.6 ppm/month. The sources will serve as a standard tool for continuous monitoring of KATRINs energy scale stability with sub-ppm precision. They may also be used in other applications where the precise conversion lines can be separated from the low energy spectrum caused by the electron inelastic scattering in the substrate.

Improved methods of measurement and analysis of conversion electron and β-particle spectra

A general statistical test of the stability of measurement conditions was demonstrated on the beta-spectra of 241Pu cumulated during four years. The alpha- and gamma-ray spectroscopy indicated stability of the 241Pu source. Monte Carlo modelling of individual collision events clarified the role of electron scattering and energy losses within a radioactive source down to energies of several hundreds of eV. The impact ionization by beta-particles of carbon and oxygen atoms in a surface contamination layer on the 241Pu and 63Ni sources was observed.

Gaseous source of 83mKr conversion electrons for the neutrino experiment KATRIN

The metastable 83mKr with short half-life of 1.83 h is intended as a space distributed source of monoenergetic electrons for energy calibration and systematic studies in the Karlsruhe tritium neutrino experiment (KATRIN). The efficient production of the parent radionuclide 83Rb at cyclotron U-120M was implemented. The release of the 83mKr from zeolite (molecular sieve), in which the parent radionuclide 83Rb (T1/2 = 86.2 d) was trapped, was studied under various conditions using the gamma spectroscopy. Residual gas analysis of ultra high vacuum over the zeolite was performed as well.

Feasibility of photoelectron sources with sharp lines of stable energy between 20 and 80 keV

Photo-absorption of γ-rays in thin Al, Co, Ti, and Mo convertors was examined with the aim to produce quasi monoenergetic photoelectrons having an energy spread of 0.5-4.7eV about mean kinetic energies at discrete values between 18632 and 80321eV. The photoelectron rates were estimated for commercial photon sources of (241)Am, (119m)Sn, (125m)Te and (109)Cd with activities of 0.55-3.7GBq. Photoelectrons ejected by (241)Am γ- and X-rays from Co convertors were measured with two different electron spectrometers and obtained energy spectra were compared with Monte Carlo predictions.

Electron line shape of the KATRIN monitor spectrometer

Conversion electrons emitted from 83mKr implanted into a solid substrate will serve as a powerful tool for monitoring of the energy scale stability in the KATRIN neutrino experiment. An appropriate description of the conversion line shape is essential to determine the energy of the emitted electrons. It is shown that the Doniach-Sunjic line shape gives a significantly better fit to the conversion electron spectra than the previously used double Voigt model. The electron spectra were obtained with the KATRIN MAC-E filter monitor spectrometer.

SCATTERING OF ELECTRONS IN BETA-SPECTROSCOPY SOURCES

Experimental spectra of the169Yb conversion lines having kinetic energies of 3.7–18.4 keV and the beta spectrum from the decay of241Pu are compared with calculations by the Monte Carlo method which take into account the individual elastic and inelastic scattering processes of the electrons in the source, in the substrate, and in a carbon layer contaminating the source. Good agreement is obtained between the theoretical and experimental results. It is also shown that the scattering of the electrons depends on their emission angle.