On the setup of a short lens beta spectrometer.

Abstract

The spectrometer was originally designed and built by the AECL, Nuclear Physics Branch, in an experiment to determine the neutron lifetime (1). It was then acquired by the University of Ottawa in order to do experiments in the Nuclear Physics Lab, among which the determination of the exact shape of the continuous beta spectrum of P32. The present work describes the spectrometer and associated apparatus, the tests which are done after reassembling and the final calibration with a Cs137 and a Tm170 source. Conclusions are drawn as to the performance of the instrument and to the purposes for which it could be used.