Commissioning of the St. Benedict RF carpet

The Superallowed Transition BEta NEutrino Decay Ion Coincidence Trap (St. Benedict) aims to measure the beta-neutrino angular correlation parameter for superallowed mixed beta decay transitions between mirror nuclei in order to conduct precision tests of the Standard Model. St. Benedict will include a gas catcher, a differentially pumped extraction system, a radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) cooler and buncher, and a Paul trap to utilize radioactive ion beams produced at the Nuclear Science Laboratory of the University of Notre Dame. The two-part differentially pumped extraction system contains a RF carpet at a helium gas pressure of around 3 mbar, and a radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) ion guide at a pressure of around 2×10−3 mbar. Transport efficiency of potassium ions in the first part of the extraction system using the RF carpet in the presence of gas flow was determined to be near 100% in the 0.75 to 5 mbar pressure range using the ion surfing transport method.