Kara Stogsdill

Project abstract

The goal of future neutrino mass experiments is to make a direct measurement of the mass of the neutrino via tritium decay in cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy. As tritium is difficult to manage and expensive to obtain, a source of cool lithium atoms is needed to test the efficacy of the experiment.Therefore, a critical part of Project 8 Phase 3 is to build a Zeeman slower. The atoms are cooled using a counter-propagating laser, and a slowly decreasing magnetic field along the length of the slower, induced by a set of copper coils. The resonant frequency shift from the doppler effect in the fast, hot lithium atoms is matched by the Zeeman effect induced by the coils. The result will be a slow lithium atomic beamline at 5-10K. This poster addresses the design and challenges of making the Zeeman slower, including the central vacuum tube, coil design, and water cooling.

Benjamin Jones