A laboratory plasma experiment for X-ray astronomy using a compact electron beam ion trap (EBIT)

TL;DR

This paper introduces the JAXA-EBIT, a laboratory device that produces highly charged ions for X-ray astronomy, enabling precise atomic data measurements crucial for interpreting astrophysical plasma spectra.

Contribution

The paper presents the development and performance validation of the JAXA-EBIT, a new compact electron beam ion trap for laboratory astrophysics research.

Findings

JAXA-EBIT achieves performance comparable to existing EBITs.

Successful measurement of resonance transitions in highly charged ions.

Demonstrated capability for precise atomic data collection for astrophysics.

Abstract

We present the basic performance and experimental results of an electron beam ion trap (JAXA-EBIT), newly introduced to the Japanese astronomical community. Accurate atomic data are indispensable for the reliable interpretation of high-resolution X-ray spectra of astrophysical plasmas. The JAXA-EBIT generates highly charged ions under well-controlled laboratory conditions, providing experimental benchmarks for atomic data. The JAXA-EBIT shows performance comparable to the Heidelberg compact EBIT through dielectronic recombination measurements of highly charged Ar ions. Furthermore, we conducted resonant photoexcitation spectroscopy of highly charged ions using the soft X-ray beamline BL17SU at the synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8. As a result, we successfully detected resonance transitions of He-like O$^{6+}$ and Ne-like Fe$^{16+}$. These results demonstrate the capability of the JAXA-EBIT for precise measurement of atomic data and show that it serves as a powerful tool for advancing astrophysical research.