The SPEDE electron spectrometer

This thesis presents SPEDE (SPectrometer for Electron DEtection) and documents its construction, testing and performance during commissioning at Jyvaskyla, Finland, before deployment at the HIE-ISOLDE facility at CERN coupled with the MINIBALL array to perform in-beam electron-gamma spectroscopy using post-accelerated radioactive ion beams. Commissioning experiments took place in two two-day stints during spring 2015, coupled with several JUROGAMII gamma-detectors. This spectrometer will help aid in fully understanding exotic regions of the nuclear chart such as regions with a high degree of octupole deformation, and in those nuclei exhibiting shape coexistence. For the rst time, electron spectroscopy has been performed at the target position from states populated in accelerated nuclei via Coulomb excitation. The FWHM of SPEDE is approximately 7 keV at 320 keV, and Doppler correction was possible to improve Doppler broadened peaks. The results are intended to give the reader a full understanding of the detector and electronics, as well as the performance, capabilities, and usefulness of the spectrometer, both in simulated and in real-world situations. Additionally, some results from the Coulomb excitation of 221Rn in 2012 are presented as an example of the need for the construction of a device like SPEDE