Magnetic Neutron Scattering in Solid Oxygen and its Applications to Ultracold Neutron Production

Abstract

Using neutron scattering, we investigate the static and dynamic structure functions $S(Q,\omega )$ of 3 distinct solid phases (using powder average techniques), and characterize the corresponding modes of energy excitation, focusing primarily on the dynamics of spin interaction. With the $S(Q,\omega )$ maps, we extract the temperature dependent production rate and upscattering cross section, that are relevant for understanding experimental data on ultracold neutron production in solid oxygen at the saturated vapor pressure.

11 pages, 12 figures