LAUSR

Abstract For the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) Experiment, it is inevitable to expose conventional electronics to a gaseous tritium environment at low tritium pressures of approx. 10−7 mbar. A possible impact on the reliability of the electronics is investigated in a dedicated experiment. During four months of operation at tritium pressures varying from ≈10−4 mbar to ≈40 mbar, the electronics has been tested for proper functionality under a tritium atmosphere. To ensure that there are no harmful gas species released due to the contact of tritium with the electronics board, RGA analysis of the gas was performed. The electronics was observed to function well under all conditions but showed some degradation after exposition to tritium pressures above 10 mbar. No harmful gas species has been found. This has proven that this kind of electronics is well suited for the use at KATRIN and similar applications with low tritium pressures.