New aspects for high-intensity neutron beam production

Abstract

Neutron scattering is an important tool for the investigation of static and dynamic structures of matter. As it is an intensity limited technique, many attempts have been made to increase the effective beam intensity. High neutron intensities or, more precisely, high phase space densities of neutrons can be obtained at low energies only. Such ultra-cold neutrons can be trapped inside material and magnetic bottles. When neutrons of such densities become up-scattered, highly intense, monochromatic and pulsed beams can be produced, whose intensities can overcome limitations imposed by the classical neutron source strength. We report a recent experiment that demonstrated this alternative, to our knowledge, for the first time ever. Perspectives resulting from this development of highly intense neutron beam production will be discussed. A stationary ultra-cold neutron gas produced becomes transformed into a pulsed and monochromatic cold neutron beam.