Development of CHIP-TRAP: the Central Michigan University High Precision Penning Trap

At Central Michigan University we are developing the CHIP-TRAP mass spectrometer with the goal of performing ultra-high precision (<0.1 ppb) mass measurements on long-lived and stable isotopes. Of particular interest is a measurement of the ¹⁶³Ho – ¹⁶³Dy mass difference to provide the ¹⁶³Ho electron capture Q value, which is required for direct neutrino mass determination experiments with ¹⁶³Ho. CHIP-TRAP will consist of pair of hyperbolic precision measurement traps and a cylindrical capture/filter trap housed inside a 12 T superconducting magnet. Ions will be produced with a laser ablation ion source and a Penning ionization gauge type source and transported to the capture trap using electrostatic ion optics. Ions will be identified and contaminants removed in the capture trap, then transferred to one of the precision measurement traps where their cyclotron frequency will be measured via image charge detection techniques. We describe the design, construction and commissioning of the ion sources and ion transport beamline and the status of CHIP-TRAP.