DICE: Apparatus for Detection of Internal Conversion Electrons

An apparatus for the Detection of Internal Conversion Electrons (DICE) has been built and commissioned at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) for the study of recoil ion sources of Pu-239, which emit (235)mU nuclei that deexcite to the ground state by emitting low-energy internal conversion (IC) electrons. We present an overview of DICE and its commissioning with Bi-207 and U-235m electron sources, demonstrating that DICE allows the detection and counting of IC electrons from U-235m deexcitation. Our preliminary U-235m half-life of approximate to 26 min agrees with literature. DICE is thus an interesting tool to broaden analytical capabilities for recoil ion source characterization via studies of the peculiar decay of U-235m.