Low magnetic Johnson noise electric field plates for precision measurement

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel design for electric field plates with minimized magnetic Johnson noise, suitable for high-precision measurements such as electron electric dipole moment experiments.

Contribution

The paper introduces a low magnetic Johnson noise electric field plate design using laminated glass and Kapton tape, optimized for precision measurements.

Findings

Able to operate at electric fields up to 8.3 kV/cm

Leakage current remains low at a few hundred pA

Vacuum outgassing rate is less than 5×10⁻⁵ mbar·l/s

Abstract

We describe a parallel pair of high voltage electric field plates designed and constructed to minimise magnetic Johnson noise. They are formed by laminating glass substrates with commercially available polyimide (Kapton) tape, covered with a thin gold film. Tested in vacuum, the outgassing rate is less than $5\times10^{-5}$ mbar.l/s. The plates have been operated at electric fields up to 8.3 kV/cm, when the leakage current is at most a few hundred pA. The design is discussed in the context of a molecular spin precession experiment to measure the permanent electric dipole moment of the electron.