Charge Exchange Experiments in a mini-Electron Beam Ion Trap using Transition Edge Sensors

Published

April 8, 2026

Author(s)

Adrika Dasgupta, Jonathan Dean, Galen O'Neil, Nathan Nakamura, Joel Weber, Kelsey Morgan, Yuri Ralchenko, Daniel Swetz, Joseph Tan, Noah Zuckman, Fabian Fritz Kislat

Abstract

Charge exchange is a process observed in astrophysical environments where highly charged ions interact with neutral atoms or molecules, capturing electrons and emitting X-rays as the excited states decay towards the ground state. Charge exchange-induced X-rays provide information on the ion composition, temperature, and density of high-temperature plasmas. To interpret astrophysical observations, accurate Charge exchange cross-section data are required from ground-based laboratory experiments. In this work, we describe the development of a laboratory setup, a 0.7 T compact Electron Beam Ion Trap (mini-EBIT), for studying Charge exchange interactions between highly charged neon ions and neutral gases (H or He), using a transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter. We have developed a cost-effective pulsed gas injection system to introduce short, well-defined pulses of neutral gas into the EBIT to better model charge exchange events and to provide precise timing control. Detailed information about the characteristic emission lines of the neon ions would allow accurate determination of the cross-sections involved in charge exchange processes. We present the initial results obtained from the mini-EBIT using this advanced TES detector array. We will also present time-of-flight spectra and results from a silicon drift detector used to characterize the highly charged ion population in the mini-EBIT.

Citation

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Volume

36

Issue

6

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2026.3682138

Local Download

Keywords

charge exchange, highly charged ions, X-ray spectra, Electron Beam Ion Trap, transition-edge sensor, microcalorimeter, pulsed gas injection system

Citation

Dasgupta, A. , Dean, J. , O'Neil, G. , Nakamura, N. , Weber, J. , Morgan, K. , Ralchenko, Y. , Swetz, D. , Tan, J. , Zuckman, N. and Kislat, F. (2026), Charge Exchange Experiments in a mini-Electron Beam Ion Trap using Transition Edge Sensors, IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2026.3682138, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=960519 (Accessed July 16, 2026)

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