Monoenergetic positron beam at the reactor based positron source at FRM-II

Abstract

The principle of the in-pile positron source at the Munich research reactor FRM-II is based on absorption of high energy prompt γ-rays from thermal neutron capture in 113Cd. For this purpose, a cadmium cap is placed inside the tip of the inclined beam tube SR-11 in the moderator tank of the reactor, where an undisturbed thermal neutron flux up to 2×10 14 n cm −2 s −1 is expected. Inside the cadmium cap a structure of platinum foils is placed for converting high energy γ-radiation into positron–electron pairs. Due to the negative positron work function, moderation in annealed platinum leads to emission of monoenergetic positrons. Therefore, platinum will also be used as moderator, since its moderation property seems to yield long-term stability under reactor conditions and it is much easier to handle than tungsten. Model calculations were performed with SIMION-7.0w to optimise geometry and potential of Pt-foils and electrical lenses. It could be shown that the potentials between the Pt-foils must be chosen in the range of 1–10 V to extract moderated positrons. After successive acceleration to 5 keV by four electrical lenses the beam is magnetically guided in a solenoid field of 7.5 mT resulting in a beam diameter of about 25 mm. An intensity of about 10 10 slow positrons per second is expected in the primary positron beam. Outside of the reactor shield a W(1 0 0) single crystal remoderation stage will lead to an improvement of the positron beam brilliance before the positrons are guided to the experimental facilities.