Münster 2002 – scientific programme
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HK: Physik der Hadronen und Kerne
HK 7: Instrumentation and Applications I
HK 7.2: Group Report
Monday, March 11, 2002, 16:45–17:15, F
The new, high-intensity ultracold neutron source at PSI — •Reinhold Henneck — Paul-Scherrer-Institut, CH-5232 Villigen, Schweiz
The new PSI source for ultracold neutrons (UCN) is based on an intense, pulsed proton beam with a very low duty cycle, a spallation target of heavy material which is able to stand the high beam load of 2 mA for several seconds and a large moderator (30 l) of solid deuterium at about 6 K. Recent experimental studies have revealed a large gain factor for the production of UCN in solid deuterium from which one expects UCN densities in excess of 1000 UCN/cm3. This improvement of about 2 orders of magnitude over existing facilities will open new prospects for studies of fundamental properties of the neutron and its decay. As a first experiment we intend to improve the sensitivity in the measurement of the neutron electric dipole moment to about 5 · 10−28e·cm. We will discuss the general principle of this new type of source as well as details of the most important subsystems which are now being developed: (1) proton target, (2) heavy water moderator/ reflector, (3) solid deuterium moderator, (4) storage vessel and neutron guides.