Fully-automated field mapping of a dipole magnet of a multi-passage spectrometer (MPS)

MLLTRAP is a Penning-trap mass-spectrometer facility, which is currently being commissioned at the Maier-Leibnitz Laboratory in Garching. Here, atomic mass values are determined by measuring cyclotron frequencies of stored ions in a strong magnetic field. In the future, highly-charged ions should be utilized for an improvement in the achievable mass accuracy. For this purpose, singly-charged ions will have to be injected into a charge-breeding device, such as an EBIT, and transferred back towards the Penning traps, while being q/A selected. To fulfill these tasks a multi-passage-spectrometer (MPS) is being built. It consists of a fast-ramping, round-pole dipole magnet with an electrostatic mirror system. A basic requirement for building the MPS is a detailed knowledge on the magnetic field produced by the magnet. It is necessary to simulate the trajectories of the ions and gain knowledge on the design and geometry of the electrostatic mirror system and the vacuum chamber. For this purpose, a robot was designed, which - powered by three step motors - measures the magnetic field fully automated. The robot moves a Hall probe within three dimensions with a resolution of 1 mm and an uncertainty of 0.5 mm. In this presentation, the development of the robot, its control and data acquisition via LabView and the results are presented.