Developing an atomic tritium source for the Project 8 experiment

The Project 8 experiment aims to make a direct measurement of neutrino mass, with sensitivity to the inverted mass ordering regime. Past and current generation neutrino mass experiments use a molecular tritium source, which contributes to the systematic uncertainty due to smearing from the final state distribution's ~400meV broadening. By contrast, Project 8 will achieve a reduced systematic uncertainty by using an atomic tritium source, which has only a negligible Doppler broadening. Combining this source of O(10^20) tritium atoms held at O(10) mK in a several-cubic-meter magnetic trap, along with other improvements in detection technique and statistics, Project 8 will reach a design sensitivity of m_β < 40 meV.

I will present an overview of the program to develop an atomic tritium source for the Project 8 experiment. This multi-institution development program includes dissociation and cooling down to 10K; further cooling to 10mK via magnetic evaporative cooling; and atom trapping using magnet arrays. In addition to this overview, I will focus on the multitude of tritium-compatible diagnostic tools being developed at JGU Mainz to measure atom flux, atom beam shape, and temperature.