Machine C

More photos of Machine C can be found here.

Machine C studieds a process known as dissociative charge exchange (DCE).

Machine C is a multi-particle translational spectrometer. It consists of four differentially pumped regions, the source, acceleration, time-of-flight, and detection region. Ions are generated in the source by electron impact or electric discharge on a pulsed supersonic expansion. The cations are then accelerated 16 keV and re-referenced to ground using a high-voltage switch. The cations are electrostatically guided through the time-of-flight region into the detector region. The cation beam is passed through a mass gate, to assure than only the ion of interest enters the Cs cell. The cations are neutralized by the Cs and the dissociating neutral fragments are detected using a crossed delay-line, time- and position-sensitive detector, capable of detecting up to eight particles in coincidence. The un-neutralized cations are deflected up to a microchannel based detector where their intensity/shape is monitored, using an oscilloscope.

The source region is on the far right of the photograph. The acceleration region is inside the source chamber. The time-of-flight region is next followed by the detector region.

Those who currently work on Machine C include Jennifer Mann and John Savee. Their contact information can be found on the group members page.