Measurements of ultracold-neutron lifetimes in solid deuterium.
We present the first measurements of the survival time of ultracold neutrons (UCNs) in solid deuterium (SD2). This critical parameter provides a fundamental limitation to the effectiveness of superthermal UCN sources that utilize solid ortho-deuterium as the source material. These measurements are performed utilizing a SD2 source coupled to a spallation source of neutrons, providing a demonstration of UCN production in this geometry and permitting systematic studies of the influence of thermal up-scatter and contamination with para-deuterium on the UCN survival time.
Morris
C L
CL
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
Anaya
J M
JM
Bowles
T J
TJ
Filippone
B W
BW
Geltenbort
P
P
Hill
R E
RE
Hino
M
M
Hoedl
S
S
Hogan
G E
GE
Ito
T M
TM
Kawai
T
T
Kirch
K
K
Lamoreaux
S K
SK
Liu
C-Y
CY
Makela
M
M
Marek
L J
LJ
Martin
J W
JW
Mortensen
R N
RN
Pichlmaier
A
A
Saunders
A
A
Seestrom
S J
SJ
Smith
D
D
Teasdale
W
W
Tipton
B
B
Utsuro
M
M
Young
A R
AR
Yuan
J
J