The super electron beam ion trap

A 200-keV super electron beam ion trap is being used to study the few electron ions of heavy elements. This device can produce and trap any highly charged ion at rest in the laboratory, including bare U92+ ions. Measurements of the ground state binding energies of hydrogenlike and heliumlike ions, and the 2s-2p transition energies in lithiumlike through fluorinelike ions are being used to determine the QED energies in high-Z ions. The ionization cross sections for hydrogenlike and heliumlike high-Z ions are being directly measured for the first time. There are future opportunities for several new kinds of experiments.