Quadrupole Ion Trap

These files contain the design for an open source 3D printable quadrupole ion trap which is capable of trapping Lycopodium powder. The quadrupole ion trap operates using a 3 kV 50Hz alternating current power supply and uses an astable multivibrator circuit to illuminate the spores, using the stroboscopic effect to exhibit their movement. The trap can be used in teaching laboratories to enhance students understanding of electric fields. The trap may also be of interest to science centres as a functional model of an anti-matter trap.

In order to build the quadrupole ion trap, electronic components are required. It is possible to obtain all these electronic components online for less than 50 Euros. Full shopping list and equipment required can be found in the DIY instruction manual.

DIY Manual and Student Worksheets and teacher manual, STL files for 3D printing & Modifiable Design Files F3D Fusion 360 files are available on Zenodo (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.1251786) https://zenodo.org/reco