Upgrade of the ultracold neutron source at the pulsed reactor TRIGA Mainz

Abstract

The performance of the upgraded solid deuterium ultracold neutron source at the pulsed reactor TRIGA Mainz is described. The current configuration stage comprises the installation of a He liquefier to run UCN experiments over long-term periods, the use of stainless steel neutron guides with improved transmission as well as sputter-coated non-magnetic ${}^{58}$NiMo alloy at the inside walls of the thermal bridge and the converter cup. The UCN yield was measured in a `standard' UCN storage bottle (stainless steel) with a volume of 32 litres outside the biological shield at the experimental area yielding UCN densities of 8.5 /cm${}^3$; an increase by a factor of 3.5 compared to the former setup. The measured UCN storage curve is in good agreement with the predictions from a Monte Carlo simulation developed to model the source. The growth and formation of the solid deuterium converter during freeze-out are affected by the ortho/para ratio of the H${}_2$ premoderator.

arXiv comment12 pages, 7 figures

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Cited by in corpus (8)

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• Solid deuterium surface degradation at ultracold neutron sources
• Neutron optics of the PSI ultracold neutron source: characterization and simulation
• A next-generation inverse-geometry spallation-driven ultracold neutron source
• $\tau$SPECT: A spin-flip loaded magnetic ultracold neutron trap for a determination of the neutron lifetime
• Time-of-flight spectroscopy of ultracold neutrons at the PSI UCN source
• A neutron trigger detector for pulsed reactor neutron sources