A cylindrical Penning trap with rare-earth magnet for use as a low current ion source and mass spectrometry demonstrator apparatus*

The Central Michigan University (CMU) High-Precision Penning trap mass spectrometer (CHIP-TRAP) is currently being developed for measurements with long-lived and stable isotopes. For this apparatus, an electron impact ion source consisting of a cylindrical Penning trap housed inside of a 0.5 T NdFeB ring magnet has been built. This source will allow ions to be produced and stored in a small volume and released as a bunch for low current pulsed beams. As an extension of this work, we are investigating use of this trap as a Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometer (FTMS) demonstrator to be used, for example, in advanced undergraduate experimental physics courses. The cylindrical ring electrode has been quartered to enable the cyclotron motion of trapped ions to be driven by applying RF between two opposite segments, while the remaining two segments are used for detection of image currents induced in the electrodes by the ions.  The image current signal will be amplified, digitized, and analyzed using FFT techniques. In this poster, I will discuss the design, construction, and initial testing of both the electron impact ion source and FTMS demonstrator set-ups.