PNNL

Abstract

It has been understood since 1897 that accelerating charges should emit electromagnetic radiation. Cyclotron radiation, the particular form of radiation emitted by an electron orbiting in a magnetic field, was first derived in 1904. Despite the simplicity of this concept, and the enormous utility of electron spectroscopy in nuclear and particle physics, single-electron cyclotron radiation has never been observed directly. Here we demonstrate single-electron detection in a novel radiofrequency spectrometer. We observe the cyclotron radiation emitted by individual electrons that are produced with mildly-relativistic energies by a gaseous radioactive source and are magnetically trapped. The relativistic shift in the cyclotron frequency permits a precise electron energy measurement. Precise beta electron spectroscopy from gaseous radiation sources is a key technique in modern efforts to measure the neutrino mass via the tritium decay endpoint, and this work is a proof-of-concept for future neutrino mass experiments using this technique.