High-Density Ultracold Neutron Source for Low-Energy Particle Physics Experiments

2025/04/17 by Skyler Degenkolb, E. Chanel, Estelle Chanel +48 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Nuclear Physics and Applications #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #hep-ex #nucl-ex #physics.ins-det

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2504.13030

openalex publication_date 2025/04/17 · openalex created_date 2025/09/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

SuperSUN, a new superthermal source of ultracold neutrons (UCN) at the Institut Laue-Langevin, exploits inelastic scattering of neutrons in isotopically pure superfluid ⁴He at temperatures below 0.6 K. For the first time, continuous operation with an intense broad-spectrum cold neutron beam is demonstrated over 60 days. We observe continuous UCN extraction rates of 21000 s^-1, and storage in the source with saturated density 273 cm^-3. The low-energy in-situ UCN spectrum is alterable via accumulation and holding delays, opening new possibilities in fundamental and applied physics.

Cited by

• Initial results of the TRIUMF ultracold advanced neutron source
• Towards Precise Simulations and Inference for the Neutron EDM
• Concept of the UCN Source at the WWR-K Reactor (AlSUN)

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