Cooled storage rings must use very thin internal targets. Trapped particles in a non-neutral plasma might serve as such a target if the density could be raised beyond present limits.

A trapped population avoids container wall collisions which can destroy for example anti-matter by annihilation or polarization, ionization state, or other desirable properties of less exotic target species.

To attempt to raise the density of trapped plasmas, and to study the interaction of a dense non-neutral plasma with a storage ring beam, a modest research program with trapped electrons is underway at IUCF.

Student involvement is an important ingredient to research carried out in an academic environment, and the trap target project has benefitted from the efforts of a great group, including (chronological order, beginning in 1991): J. Lash, M Klasen, M. Pelath, A. Sarrazine, D. Williams, M. Schatten, H. Gerberich, D. Stoller, M. Muterspaugh T. Stiles

The "innards" of the trap are displayed. This assembly is placed within a uniform magnetic field of up to 0.2T along its axis. The magnetic field provides radial plasma confinement.

The ends of the trap are a set of conducting rings in a "column" connected by resistor chains to give uniform electric field for axial confinement.

The center section has tubes fitted with insulated electrodes, which are used for monitoring and control of plasma properties.

There is an electron gun for injection connected to the left endcap, and an auxiliary "catcher" trap on the left end to measure a fraction of the trap content spilled by lowering the confinement voltage.

The trap has a clear opening along its axis for beam passage when it is installed in the Cooler ring for beam-plasma interaction studies.

• About Non-Neutral Plasmas
• About Electron Cooling
• About other research interests
• About the laboratory where the trap target research is carried out

E-mail: pollock@iucf.indiana.edu

Phone: (812)-855-8306

Fax: (812)-855-6645