A new superleak to remove He for UCN experiments

The production of superleaks to remove He³ in helium for UCN experiments is described. Using one of these superleaks, He³/He⁴ ratio was found to be less than 3 × 10⁻⁹ as indicated by the UCN storage lifetime.     

Depolarization of UCN stored in material traps

Depolarization of ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) stored in material traps was first observed. The probability of UCN spin flip per reflection depends on the trap material and varies from 7×10⁻⁶ (beryllium) to 10⁻⁴ (glass).     

Superconducting UCN Polarizer for a New EDM Spectrometer

A test experiment has shown that the number of ultracold neutrons (UCN) of one polarization state, transmitted through a 100 μm Al foil when placed in a 5 T magnetic field, is greater by 3.8 times. The increased transmission is due to the higher velocity of the UCN passing through the foil.     

A Silicon UCN Detector With Large Area and With Analysis of UCN Polarization

A silicon ultracold neutron (UCN) detector with an area of 45 cm² and with a ⁶LiF converter is developed at St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI). The spectral efficiency of the silicon UCN detector was measured by means of a gravitational spectrometer at Institut Max von Laue – Paul Langevin (ILL). The sandwich-type detector from two silicon plates with a ⁶LiF converter placed between them was also studied. Using this type of technology the UCN detector with analysis of polarization was developed and tested. The analyzing power of this detector assembly reaches up 75 % for the main part of UCN spectrum. This UCN detector with analysis of UCN polarization can be used in the new electric dipole moment (EDM) spectrometer.     

Transmission of very slow neutrons through material foils and its influence on the design of ultracold neutron sources

At the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), a very intense source of ultracold neutrons (UCN) is being built. The UCN converter of solid deuterium must be contained in a vessel. Produced UCN leave that vessel through its top lid. To decide on the design of the vessel and the top lid, we have measured the transmission of neutrons with velocities between 3 and 20 m/s through different material foils. Contrary to expectations, we found that transmission through aluminium and aluminium alloys is equal or even higher compared to zirconium and reactor-grade zirconium alloys, respectively.     

A novel apparatus for the investigation of material properties for the storage of ultracold neutrons

We have built a novel apparatus for the investigation of materials for the storage of ultracold neutrons. Neutrons are filled into a storage volume, confined at the bottom by a magnetic field, at the top by gravity and at the sides by the slit-less sample surface under investigation. For different beryllium and diamond-like carbon samples, storage times up to 200 s were obtained at room temperature. The corresponding loss parameters η for ultracold neutrons varied between 4.2 and 6.8×10^-4 per wall collision.     

A compact, large-diameter adiabatic spinflipper for ultracold neutrons

We report the design and test of a compact, large-diameter spinflipper for ultracold neutrons based on the principle of adiabatic spinflip. A solenoid rf coil with a high diameter-to-length ratio (d/l~1.7) is surrounded by up to three short magnet coils (d/l~0.4…1.7) to provide the static gradient field. The device is optimized for low power consumption and operation in high vacuum. The magnetic field conditions necessary for full spinflipper efficiency over the full diameter were evaluated with ultracold neutrons. The measured spinflipper efficiency vs. adiabaticity correlation is in good agreement with a calculation based on an ideally linear gradient.     

A coated pixel device TimePix with micron spatial resolution for UCN detection

A position sensitive detector for ultra-cold neutrons (UCNs) has been developed. Here we present the first experimental results and compare them with Monte-Carlo simulations. The silicon pixel device “TimePix” with a spatial resolution below 1 μm for strongly ionizing particles has been coated with a conversion layer of ⁶LiF for the detection of UCN. A spatial resolution of 5.3 μm has been measured for UCN. An optimized setup with 10B as conversion layer can achieve a spatial resolution below 3 μm.     

UCN Production With a Single Crystal of Ortho-Deuterium

The present paper reports on the preliminary experimental results concerning a new concept of ultracold neutron production with a single crystal converter of ortho-deuterium lying in the ground rotational state at the low temperature of about 10 K, which should make it possible to utilize a guided cold neutron beam instead of irradiating the converter material in the inside of high radiation fields. The successful observation of the clear Bragg scattering pattern from the single crystal converter and the reasonable results from the first experimental trial of the ultracold neutron production with the single crystal are shown.     

Investigation of Solid D2 for UCN Sources

Solid deuterium (sD₂) will be used for the production of ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) in a new generation of UCN sources. Scattering cross sections of UCN in sD₂ determine the source yield but until now have not been investigated. We report first results from transmission and scattering experiments with cold, very cold and ultra-cold neutrons on sD₂ along with light transmission and Raman scattering studies showing the influence of the sD₂ crystal properties.     

Measurement of the Loss and Depolarization Probability of UCN on Beryllium and Diamond Like Carbon Films

Currently several institutes worldwide are working on the development of a new generation of ultracold neutron (UCN) sources. In parallel with source development, new materials for guiding and storage of UCN are developed. Currently the best results have been achieved using ⁵⁸Ni, Be, solid O₂ and low temperature Fomblin oil (LTF). All of these materials have their shortcomings like cost, toxicity or difficulty of use. A novel very promising material is diamond like carbon (DLC). Several techniques exist to coat surfaces, and industrial applications (e.g., for extremely hard surfaces) are already wide spread. Preliminary investigations using neutron reflectometry at PSI and Los Alamos yielded a critical velocity for DLC of about 7 m/s thus comparable to Beryllium. A low upper limit of depolarization probability for stored polarized UCN has been measured at the PF2 facility of the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) by North Carolina State University (NCSU), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI), thus making it also a good material for storage and guidance of polarized UCN. Still missing is the loss probability per bounce. We will be able to extract this number and a more stringent value for the depolarization from our experiment thus proving the suitability of DLC as a wall material for a wide range of UCN applications.     

Neutron Studies of Impurity Gels of Heavy Water and Deuterium in Superfluid He-II

The main goal of this work is to explore feasibility of a new method for producing high density of ultra cold neutrons. The method proposed consists in the cooling of very cold neutrons owing to their many collisions with ultracold nanoparticles made of low adsorbing materials (heavy water, deuterium) down to the temperature of this particles during the diffusion motion of neutrons through a macroscopically large ensemble of nanoparticles—a sample of high porous impurity gel in superfluid He-II. At the first stage of this experimental program we have studied propagation and small angle scattering of cold neutrons in the gel samples cooled down to 1.6 K. The results obtained look very encouraging: estimated characteristic dimensions of impurity clusters are 3≤d≤150 nm for as-prepared deuterium gel sample and d≤15 nm for heavy-water gel samples. In the next series of experiments we plan to study the inelastic scattering of cold neutrons in the bulk of deuterium and heavy water gel samples.      

Concepts of UCN sources for the FRM-II

Three concepts for sources of ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) for the reactor FRM-II at Garching near Munich are studied: one, Mini-D₂, is a source with 170 cm³ of solid deuterium in the beam tube SR4 and the second one a large solid-deuterium source (volume about 30 dm³), mounted in the beam tube SR5 as an advanced cold source with a number of neutron guides. The third one, Mark 3000, uses superfluid ⁴He at a cold-neutron guide. A UCN density of up to 7×10⁴ cm⁻³ may possibly be achieved in the storage volumes of Mini-D₂ yielding more than 10⁹ UCN for extraction to an attached experimental setup. The usable UCN flux at the periphery of the large deuterium source is predicted to be 2×10⁷ cm⁻² s⁻¹. Mark 3000, finally, is expected to yield a UCN density of about 10⁵ cm⁻³.     

Looking for surface states of ultra-cold neutrons

We report experiments testing the question whether or not ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) stored in traps with total-reflecting walls are temporarily adsorbed to the walls. A hypothetical process of sticking to the walls is theoretically intriguing but it can apparently make plausible the puzzling observations made in UCN storage experiments over the years.     

Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime Using a Gravitational Trap and a Low-Temperature Fomblin Coating

We present a new value for the neutron lifetime of 878.5 ± 0.7_stat. ± 0.3_syst. This result differs from the world average value by 6.5 standard deviations and by 5.6 standard deviations from the previous most precise result. However, this new value for the neutron lifetime together with a β-asymmetry in neutron decay, A₀, of −0.1189(7) is in a good agreement with the Standard Model.     

Search for quantum states of the neutron in a gravitational field: gravitational levels

The neutron could occupy quantum stationary states if it is trapped between the Earth's gravitational field on one side and the Fermi quasi-potential of a mirror on the other side. The quantum states cause a strong variation in neutron density, both for separate energy levels and for a mixture of low-energy states. The use of a position sensitive UCN (ultracold neutron) detector allows simultaneous measurement of the position probability density distribution in the total range of interest and increases significantly the statistics, making possible such an experiment. In this article we describe a specially developed neutron spectrometer and a method of measurement of such quantum states.     

Identification of a new failure criterion for toughened epoxy adhesive

The increasing use of structural adhesive in industry leads to the need of a detailed failure criterion. In this paper, a structural adhesive especially designed for automotive crashworthiness applications named BETAMATE 1496V™ is studied. The authors propose a new failure criterion based on an equivalent failure strain which evolves with the triaxiality stress ratio and the strain rate. This criterion is identified by means of new measurement techniques on a large range of strain rates and for different loadings like tensile, shear and compressive.     

Simulations of neutron deceleration in a multistage UCN turbine using a multilayer monochromator

A neutron turbine is a neutron decelerator with neutron reflectors on a rotor. The multistage neutron turbine using multilayer monochromators has three rotors to decelerate very cold neutrons to ultra-cold neutrons. Reflecting blades on the rotors are flat and the incident direction of neutrons is perpendicular to the mirror surface. The use of a multistage turbine makes the incident velocity to be about 150 m/s which is faster than the existing neutron turbines and the three rotors make the velocity change smaller in one stage than the Doppler shifter employing Bragg reflection. It simultaneously improves the neutron extraction efficiency from a cold neutron source and the neutron deceleration. The peak deceleration efficiency assuming unit reflectivity in this three-stage turbine is about 0.71 from 150 m/s to UCN, and that of the final stage is about 0.81 from 50 m/s to UCN.     

Optothermal escape of plasmonically coupled silver nanoparticles from a three-dimensional optical trap

We demonstrate that optical trapping of multiple silver nanoparticles is strongly influenced by plasmonic coupling of the nanoparticles. Employing dark-field Rayleigh scattering imaging and spectroscopy on multiple silver nanoparticles optically trapped in three dimensions, we experimentally investigate the time-evolution of the coupled plasmon resonance and its influence on the trapping stability. With time the coupling strengthens, which is observed as a gradual red shift of the coupled plasmon scattering. When the coupled plasmon becomes resonant with the trapping laser wavelength, the trap is destabilized and nanoparticles are released from the trap. Modeling of the trapping potential and its comparison to the plasmonic heating efficiency at various nanoparticle separation distances suggests a thermal mechanism of the trap destabilization. Our findings provide insight into the specificity of three-dimensional optical manipulation of plasmonic nanostructures suitable for field enhancement, for example for surface-enhanced Raman scattering.     

Tunnelling of electrons from deep traps of MgO

A new result on electron tunnelling from the deep traps of MgO, reported recently is discussed. The electrons from the 540 K trapping group are released spontaneously at 480 K. The proposed mechanism for electron tunnelling is discussed in the light of existing theories. The location of the peak in the isothermal decay is found to depend on (i) the extent of population of the source trap group; (ii) the availability of shallow trapping levels to the rushing electrons and (iii) the nature of traps. The glow curve experiment indicates that the isothermal decay after saturation excitation causes reduction in the thermoluminescence intensity of the 540 K peak.