A recently installed state-of-the-art sensor system at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will help reveal the dynamics of astrophysical plasmas by providing reference X-ray measurements with unprecedented precision and resolution 40 times better than previously possible.
EBIT aims a powerful, controllable stream of electrons at trapped atoms. The more powerful the beam, the more electrons are removed, and the higher the energy of the radiation emitted by the ions. Until now, the EBIT has used sensors that either delivered ultrafine resolution over a very narrow range of the spectrum or detected a wide range of wavelengths with inadequate detail.
A major instrumentation upgrade to NIST’s workhorse Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT for short), one of the best such instruments in the world.Before the invention of the EBIT, only large facilities (high energy accelerators,Tokamak fusion reactors, etc.) were capable of controlled production of very highly charged ions.
The x-ray sensor installed in the EBIT contains a circular array of 192 pixels at the very top of the device. Credit: NIST
