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Abstract

Currently, the high-precision Penning trap mass spectrometer PENTATRAP is being built at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg. The experiment will extend the range of high-precision mass measurements with uncertainties on the order of 0.01 ppb from light elements to elements of medium and high atomic numbers. With mass measurements of this accuracy, PENTATRAP will contribute, e.g., to the determination of the electron anti-neutrino rest mass. To obtain the mass of an ion species of interest, motional frequencies of a single ion confined in a Penning trap are determined via the detection of oscillating image currents induced in detection circuits by the ion's motion. These currents are usually on the order of fA. Therefore, highly sensitive low-noise detection electronics is required. As a part of the detection unit for the determination of the so-called axial frequency, which plays a crucial role in high-precision mass measurements, a down converter with integrated sideband suppression and low-noise pre-amplifier was set up, tested and optimized within this thesis. Furthermore, first steps towards the integration of a low-noise SQUID based amplifier into the PENTATRAP setup were taken.