This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will establish the feasibility of developing an Advanced Positron Beam Source (APBS) that can a provide high quality pulsed positron beam suitable for a range of analytical instruments for materials science. The project is based on the latest developments in techniques to accumulate positrons from a radioactive source in Penning traps using a buffer gas. The technical objectives of Phase I are: (1) to demonstrate experimentally that positrons can be extracted from the magnetic field and remoderation brightness enhanced; (2) to obtain experimental data required for the design of a new state-of-the art compact trap; and (3) to design a laboratory prototype of the APBS system. The experiments will be performed on the UCSD positron trap. If successful, this project will provide the basis for demonstration of a laboratory prototype APBS in Phase II. Positron beams can be used for the evaluation of a wide range of properties of metals, semiconductors and polymers. A major obstacle to the commercial exploitation of these techniques is the lack of a suitable low-energy positron beam source. The APBS will fill this need by providing a compact, low-cost, user-friendly positron beam source that can function as a turnkey system in an industrial environment. The APBS will have performance characteristics that are not available from any other system.
