Metrological requirements and practical aspects of heat flux calculations in ultracold neutron converters

The PIK reactor at NRC "Kurchatov Institute"-PNPI is going to be equipped with a high-flux Ultra Cold Neutron (UCN) source for fundamental physics researches. The UCN source will use superfluid helium, which will make possible to achieve the density of UCN 2.2·10^3 cm-3, that has not yet been achieved anywhere in the world. The UCN source will be installed on the GEK-4 channel, which will make possible to obtain a low value of heat influx to cryogenic vessels from reactor radiation. The heat removal from the UCN source vessel will be implemented by using a heat exchanger. The calculated UCN density in the EDM spectrometer chamber at the PIK is going to be 200 cm-3, which is 20 times higher than the existing UCN densities in the world. For a new UCN source based on superfluid helium, an extensive research program has been developed in field of the physics of fundamental interactions, including the search for a nonzero neutron EDM, precision measurement of the neutron lifetime, and search for mirror dark matter. Keywords: ultracold neutrons, neutron sources, superfluid helium, neutron EDM, neutron decay.

The PIK reactor at NRC "Kurchatov Institute" - PNPI is going to be equipped with a high-flux Ultra Cold Neutron (UCN) source for fundamental physics researches. The UCN source will use superfluid helium, which will make possible to achieve the density of UCN 2.2·10^3 cm-3, that has not yet been achieved anywhere in the world. The UCN source will be installed on the GEK-4 channel, which will make possible to obtain a low value of heat influx to cryogenic vessels from reactor radiation. The heat removal from the UCN source vessel will be implemented by using a heat exchanger. The calculated UCN density in the EDM spectrometer chamber at the PIK is going to be 200 cm-3, which is 20 times higher than the existing UCN densities in the world. For a new UCN source based on superfluid helium, an extensive research program has been developed in field of the physics of fundamental interactions, including the search for a nonzero neutron EDM, precision measurement of the neutron lifetime, and search for mirror dark matter.

UCN sources at external beams of thermal neutrons. An example of PIK reactor

Placing polycrystalline bismuth filter in front of an ultracold neutron (UCN) source with superfluid helium at 1 K is shown to be effective. The use of this filter ensures a 30-fold decrease (down to 0.5 W) in the level of heat load in the UCN source, while reducing by 30% the flux of neutrons with 9-A wavelength (which are converted into UCNs). The phenomenon of small-angle scattering on polycrystalline bismuth has been studied and shown to be insignificant. Cooling of the filter to liquid nitrogen temperature increases the transmission of 9-A neutrons by only 8%; hence, creation of this cooling system is inexpedient. A project of a technological complex designed for the UCN source at the PIK reactor is presented, which ensures the removal of 1-W heat load from the UCN source with superfluid helium at a 1-K temperature level.

The TUCAN (TRIUMF UltraCold Advanced Neutron) Collaboration is completing a new ultracold neutron (UCN) source. The UCN source will deliver UCNs to a neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) experiment. The EDM experiment is projected to be capable of an uncertainty of 1 × 10−27 ecm, competitive with other planned projects, and a factor of ten more precise than the present world’s best. The TUCAN source is based on a UCN production volume of superfluid helium (He-II), held at 1 K, and coupled to a proton-driven spallation target. The production rate in the source is expected to be in excess of 107 UCN/s; since UCN losses can be small in superfluid helium, this should allow us to build up a large number of UCNs. The spallation-driven superfluid helium technology is the principal aspect making the TUCAN project unique. The superfluid production volume was recently cooled, for the first time, and successfully filled with superfluid helium. The design principles of the UCN source are described, along with some of the challenging cryogenic milestones that were recently passed.

It is proposed to equip the PIK and WWR-M research reactors at the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI) with high-density ultracold neutron (UCN) sources, where UCNs will be obtained based on the effect of their accumulation in superfluid helium (due to the specific features of this quantum fluid). The maximum UCN storage time in superfluid helium is obtained at temperatures on the order of 1 K. These sources are expected to yield UCN densities of 103–104 cm–3, i.e., approximately three orders of magnitude higher than the density from existing UCN sources throughout the world. The development of highest intensity UCN sources will make PNPI an international center of fundamental UCN research.

A new source of ultracold neutrons (UCNs), developed at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and named SuperSUN, is currently being commissioned. Its operational principle is the conversion of cold neutrons, delivered by ILL’s existing beam H523, to UCNs in a vessel filled with superfluid helium-4, wherein the neutron’s energy and momentum are transferred by inelastic scattering to phonons in the superfluid. The inverse Boltzmann-suppressed process is negligible at temperatures below 0.6 K, enabling long storage times and high in-situ UCN densities as demonstrated at the ILL for two prototype sources. These two prototypes are installed at secondary beams behind crystal monochromators, whereas a primary beam with a white cold spectrum illuminates the SuperSUN conversion volume. This provides not only higher intensity around the wavelength 0.89 nm where the dominant single-phonon process for UCN production takes place, but also a contribution to UCN production by multi-phonon processes. In the first phase of the project, material walls will trap the UCNs, while in the second phase an octupole magnet will generate a 2.1 T magnetic field at the edge of the conversion volume. For low-field-seeking UCNs, this field increases the trapping potential and reduces wall losses so that the accumulated UCNs are spin-polarized as a result. SuperSUN aims to deliver the highest possible UCN densities to external storage experiments, the first of which will be the PanEDM experiment measuring the neutron’s permanent electric dipole moment.

A high density ultracold neutron source based on superfluid helium is going to be created in NRC “Kurchatov Institute” — PNPI for scientific research in fundamental physics. The ultracold neutron source is to be installed on the Horizontal Experimental Channel 4 (HEC-4), which is the biggest of available experimental channels of PIK Reactor Complex. Thermal neutron flux density at the channel outlet is expected to be around 3 ×1010 cm–2s–1. The new ultracold neutron source at the PIK Reactor is planned to achieve a density of 2.2 ×103 cm–3 at ultracold neutron neutron guide exit and 200 cm–3 at neutron electric dipole moment spectrometer facility. The designed ultracold neutron guide system is going to support five experimental facilities alternately. At the initial stage the ultracold neutron source is planned to be equipped with already existing PNPI experimental plants: a neutron electric dipole moment spectrometer and neutron lifetime measuring facilities (with a gravitational and magnetic trap). A unique technological cryogenic complex with superfluid helium was designed and realized for this ultracold neutron source. Said complex includes equipment for achieving temperatures down to 1 K and removal of up to 60 W of heat from superfluid helium.

The WWR-M reactor at PNPI is planned to be equipped with a high-flux source for ultracold neutrons (UCNs). The method of UCN production is based on neutron conversion in superfluid helium, exploiting the particular qualities of that quantum liquid. As a result of optimizing the source parameters, we expect a temperature of superfluid helium of 1.2 K and a UCN density of 1.3 × 104 cm−3 in a neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) spectrometer. The expected flux densities of cold neutrons (with wavelengths in the range 2–20 Å) and very cold neutrons (50–100 Å) at the output of a neutron guide with a cross section of 30 × 200 mm2 are 9.7 × 107 cm−2s−1 and 8.3 × 105 cm−2s−1, respectively. The capability of maintaining a temperature of 1.37 K at a thermal load of 60 W was shown experimentally, while the theoretical load is expected to be 37 W. Calculations show that it is possible to decrease the helium temperature down to 1.2 K at similar heat load. The project includes the development of experimental stations at UCN beams, such as for a neutron EDM search, measurements of the neutron lifetime, and for a search for neutron-to-mirror-neutron transitions. In addition, three beams of cold and very cold neutrons are foreseen. At present, the vacuum container of the UCN source has been manufactured and the production of the low-temperature deuterium and helium parts of the source has been started.

ESS will be a premier neutron source facility. Unprecedented neutron beam intensities are ensured by spallation reactions of a 5 MW, 2.0 GeV proton beam impinging on a tungsten target equipped with advanced moderators. The work presented here aims at investigating possibilities for installing an ultra cold neutron (UCN) source at the ESS. One consequence of using the recently proposed flat moderators is that they take up less space than the moderators originally foreseen and thus leave more freedom to design a UCN source, close to the spallation hotspot. One of the options studied is to place a large4He UCN source in a through-going tube which penetrates the shielding below the target. First calculations of neutron flux available for UCN production are given, along with heat-load estimates. It is estimated that the flux can give rise to a UCN production at a rate of up to1.5·108 UCN/s. A production in this range potentially allows for a number of UCN experiments to be carried out at unprecedented precision, including, for example, quantum gravitational spectroscopy with UCNs which rely on high phase-space density.

The Ultra-Cold Neutron (UCN) source being commissioned at North Carolina State Universityâs PULSTAR reactor is uniquely optimized for UCN production in the former graphite-filled thermal column outside of the reactor pool. The source utilizes a remote moderation design which is particularly well suited to the PULSTAR reactor on account of its large thermal and epithermal neutron leakage from the core face. This large non-equilibrium flux from the core is efficiently transported to the UCN source through the specially designed beam port in order to optimize UCN production at any given reactor power. The increased distance to the source from the core also greatly limits the heat load on the cryogenic system. A MCNP model of this system was developed and is in good agreement with gold foil activation measurements using a mock-up setup as well as with the real UCN source heavy water moderator. These results established a firm baseline for estimates of the cold neutron flux available for UCN production and prove that remote moderation in a thermal column port is a valuable option for future designs of cryogenic UCN sources.

The ultra-cold neutron (UCN) source being commissioned at North Carolina State University’s PULSTAR reactor is uniquely optimized for UCN production in the former graphite-filled thermal column outside of the reactor pool. The source utilizes a remote moderation design, which is particularly well suited to the PULSTAR reactor because of its high thermal and epithermal neutron leakage from the core face. This large non-equilibrium flux from the core is efficiently transported to the UCN source through the specially designed beam port in order to optimize UCN production at any given reactor power. The increased distance to the source from the core also greatly limits the heat load on the cryogenic system. A MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) model of this system was developed and is in good agreement with gold foil activation measurements using a test configuration as well as with the real UCN source’s heavy water moderator. These results established a firm baseline for estimates of the cold neutron flux available for UCN production and prove that remote moderation in a thermal column port is a valuable option for future designs of cryogenic UCN sources.

An ultracold neutron source at the NC State University PULSTAR reactor

This article reviews the development of various sources for ultracold neutrons (UCNs) at the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI). For 45 years, PNPI has proposed and manufactured cryogenic devices for neutron conversion to low energies. Based on beryllium, hydrogen and deuterium, they can be operated in the intense radiation fields near the core of a nuclear reactor. A more recently launched UCN source development utilizes superfluid helium (He-II) as conversion medium. Initially proposed and designed for PNPI’s old WWR-M reactor, the project has been reshaped to equip the institute’s PIK reactor with a modern UCN source of this type. The projected UCN density in the closed source chamber is 2.2 × 103 cm−3, which, as calculations of neutron transport show, will provide 200 cm−3 in the chambers of a neutron EDM spectrometer connected to the source by a UCN guide. Experiments at PNPI with a full-scale UCN source model have demonstrated that a heat load of 60 W can be removed from the He-II in the converter at a temperature of 1.37 K. This fact confirms the practical possibility to implement low-temperature converters under “in-pile” conditions with large heat inflows. The review concludes with a presentation of various proposed options for a He-II based UCN source at the European Spallation Source.

Efficient neutron transport is a key ingredient to the performance of ultracold neutron (UCN) sources, important to meeting the challenges placed by high precision fundamental physics experiments. At the Paul Scherrer Institute’s UCN source we have been continuously improving our understanding of the UCN source parameters by performing a series of studies to characterize neutron production and moderation, and UCN production, extraction, and transport efficiency to the beamport. The present study on the absolute UCN transport efficiency completes our previous publications. We report on complementary measurements, namely one on the height-dependent UCN density and a second on the transmission of a calibrated quantity of UCN over a sim 16 m long UCN guide section connecting one beamport via the source storage vessel to another beamport. These allow us quantifying and optimizing the performance of the guide system based on extensive Monte Carlo simulations.