Plasma manipulation techniques for positron storage in a multicell trap

New plasma manipulation techniques are described that are central to the development of a multicell Penning trap designed to increase positron storage by orders of magnitude (e.g., to particle numbers N⩾1012). The experiments are done using test electron plasmas. A technique is described to move plasmas across the confining magnetic field and to deposit them at specific radial and azimuthal positions. Techniques to fill and operate two in-line plasma cells simultaneously, and the use of 1kV confinement potentials are demonstrated. These experiments establish the capabilities to create, confine, and manipulate plasmas with the parameters required for a multicell trap; namely, particle numbers >1010 in a single cell with plasma temperature ⩽0.2eV for plasma lengths ∼10cm and radii ⩽0.2cm. The updated design of a multicell positron trap for 1012 particles is described.

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