Creation and manipulation of positronium for efficient antihydrogen production at AEGIS

The AEGIS collaboration at CERN aims to use a pulse of antihydrogen atoms in free fall to measure the effect of gravity on antimatter. Antihydrogen is created via the charge exchange reaction between cold antiprotons and laser-excited Rydberg-positronium (Ps). In this work, velocity and self-ionization studies on excited Ps in a 1 T magnetic field and a 10 K cryogenic environment are presented. Results on the development of positron/Ps converter targets in transmission geometry are also reported.