Technical design and commissioning of the KATRIN large-volume air coil system

Understand

The KATRIN experiment is a next-generation direct neutrino mass experiment with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV (90% C.L.) to the effective mass of the electron neutrino.

• It measures the tritium $\beta$-decay spectrum close to its endpoint with a spectrometer based on the MAC-E filter technique.
• The $\beta$-decay electrons are guided by a magnetic field that operates in the mT range in the central spectrometer volume; it is fine-tuned by a large-volume air coil system surrounding the spectrometer vessel.
• The purpose of the system is to provide optimal transmission properties for signal electrons and to achieve efficient magnetic shielding against background.