---

Bio

Poster

Paper

Samuel Brewer, Brian Myer, Lindsay Reynolds, James Gleeson
Appalachian State University

Subject Listing - Physics/Astronomy
Advisor: Dr. Adrian N. Daw, Dr. Anthony G. Calamai

Thursday, Poster Session 1, Presentation Kiosk 20 C, Health & Fitness Center

ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS FOR IONS STORED IN THE ASU RF ION TRAP

The effective temperature of an ion cloud stored in an anharmonic radiofrequency ion trap is not well known. We have developed multi-particle ion dynamics programs in order to better understand the energy distribution and effective temperature of an ion cloud under various trapping parameters. These programs have been developed using both SIMION, an ion trajectory simulation package that uses grid interpolation, and a program written in IDL that permits use of analytical potentials and greater flexibility in modeling ion-ion and ion-neutral interactions. These dynamical simulations have been developed to support early-universe chemistry experiments currently underway with the anharmonic rf ion trap at Appalachian State University. Specifically, reactions between protons and hydrogen molecules are being studied. We have simulated the storage of protons and have been able to extract energy distributions and ion cloud temperatures for various trapping conditions, including the effect of different reactions with hydrogen molecules. These simulations are important to our experimental work as the reaction rate coefficients depend on the effective temperature of the ion cloud. We will present data from these simulations, a comparison of the results of the two programs, and a comparison of the simulations with data collected using the ASU rf ion trap.

Advisor: Dr. Adrian N. Daw, Assistant Professor of Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

Advisor: Dr. Anthony G. Calamai, Professor and Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC