An electromagnetic ion trap for studies in nuclear beta decay

Traps are especially well suited for the investigation of weak interactions as they allow the detection of the decay products without interference from any supporting material. Here we report on the development of an electromagnetic ion trap for correlation experiments in nuclear beta decay. An ion trap was chosen over an optical trap because it is not as limited in the choice of elements that can be contained. At present, we are studying different types of traps and their possible configurations in the context of the set of observables that will give the highest sensitivity for a test of the electroweak standard model.