Slowing down and trapping of MeV antiprotons

Abstract

The first step necessary for a variety of proposed experiments with ultra-low energy antiprotons and antihydrogen is the capture of a sufficiently large number of antiprotons. We propose a combination of the degrading foil technique and a large scale Penning trap as a means to accomplish this goal. Measurements of the degrading of protons and antiprotons from MeV to several tens of keV have been performed at LEAR and at the Ion-Beam Facility in Los Alamos. The experimental set-up is described and results are given for the slowing down process of 105 MeV/c protons and antiprotons. The application of these results to the capture of antiprotons into a Penning trap are discussed and the design of a deep-well catching trap is presented.