Electron Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy

The purpose of this experiment was to craft an electron-positron annihilation spectrometer in order to conduct electron-positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (EPALS) in the Union College Ion Beam Analysis Laboratory. EPALS as a method of spectroscopy is tool used for analysis of atomic scale defects in crystalline materials. We constructed an apparatus to employ this as a method of crystalline defect analysis. Using EPALS, we obtained spectra for samples of pure iron and MgO crystals. We analyzed these spectra to make measurements of various positron lifetimes and thus various defect types within our samples. In this presentation, the preliminary results will be discussed.