  We have conceived, built and operated a 'half-open' cylindrical Penning trap
for the confinement and laser spectroscopy of highly charged ions. This trap
allows fluorescence detection employing a solid angle which is about one order
of magnitude larger than in conventional cylindrical Penning traps. At the same
time, the desired electrostatic and magnetostatic properties of a closed-endcap
cylindrical Penning trap are preserved in this congfiuration. We give a
detailed account on the design and confinement properties, a characterization
of the trap and show first results of light collection with in-trap produced
highly charged ions.
