Design and performance of a cryogenic apparatus for magnetically trapping ultracold neutrons

P. R. Huffman; K. J. Coakley; J. M. Doyle; C. R. Huffer; H. P. Mumm; C. M. O'Shaughnessy; K. W. Schelhammer; P. N. Seo; L. Yang

doi:10.1016/j.cryogenics.2014.09.008

Design and performance of a cryogenic apparatus for magnetically trapping ultracold neutrons

P. R. Huffman, K. J. Coakley, J. M. Doyle, C. R. Huffer, H. P. Mumm, C. M. O'Shaughnessy, K. W. Schelhammer, P. N. Seo, L. Yang

Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The cryogenic design and performance of an apparatus used to magnetically confine ultracold neutrons (UCN) is presented. The apparatus is part of an effort to measure the beta-decay lifetime of the free neutron and is comprised of a high-current superconducting magnetic trap that surrounds ∼21 l of isotopically pure ⁴He cooled to approximately 250 mK. A 0.89 nm neutron beam can enter the apparatus from one end of the magnetic trap and a light collection system allows visible light generated within the helium by decays to be transported to detectors at room temperature. Two cryocoolers are incorporated to reduce liquid helium consumption.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	40-50
Number of pages	11
Journal	Cryogenics
Volume	64
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cryogenics.2014.09.008
State	Published - Nov 2014

Keywords

Cryocooler
Magnetic trap
Neutron lifetime
Ultracold neutrons

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Materials Science(all)
Physics and Astronomy(all)

Online availability

10.1016/j.cryogenics.2014.09.008

Library availability

Discover UIUC Full Text

Cite this

@article{f4c02faeaf1142cc933296d56cd32197,

title = "Design and performance of a cryogenic apparatus for magnetically trapping ultracold neutrons",

abstract = "The cryogenic design and performance of an apparatus used to magnetically confine ultracold neutrons (UCN) is presented. The apparatus is part of an effort to measure the beta-decay lifetime of the free neutron and is comprised of a high-current superconducting magnetic trap that surrounds ∼21 l of isotopically pure 4He cooled to approximately 250 mK. A 0.89 nm neutron beam can enter the apparatus from one end of the magnetic trap and a light collection system allows visible light generated within the helium by decays to be transported to detectors at room temperature. Two cryocoolers are incorporated to reduce liquid helium consumption.",

keywords = "Cryocooler, Magnetic trap, Neutron lifetime, Ultracold neutrons",

author = "Huffman, {P. R.} and Coakley, {K. J.} and Doyle, {J. M.} and Huffer, {C. R.} and Mumm, {H. P.} and O'Shaughnessy, {C. M.} and Schelhammer, {K. W.} and Seo, {P. N.} and L. Yang",

note = "Funding Information: We thank G. Seidel, D. Haase, and R. Golub for useful cryogenic discussions. We acknowledge the support of the NIST, US Department of Commerce , in providing support, including the neutron facilities used in this work. This work is also supported in part by the US National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY-0855593 and the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02-97ER41042 . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright}2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",

year = "2014",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1016/j.cryogenics.2014.09.008",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "64",

pages = "40--50",

journal = "Cryogenics",

issn = "0011-2275",

publisher = "Elsevier Limited",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Design and performance of a cryogenic apparatus for magnetically trapping ultracold neutrons

AU - Huffman, P. R.

AU - Coakley, K. J.

AU - Doyle, J. M.

AU - Huffer, C. R.

AU - Mumm, H. P.

AU - O'Shaughnessy, C. M.

AU - Schelhammer, K. W.

AU - Seo, P. N.

AU - Yang, L.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank G. Seidel, D. Haase, and R. Golub for useful cryogenic discussions. We acknowledge the support of the NIST, US Department of Commerce , in providing support, including the neutron facilities used in this work. This work is also supported in part by the US National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY-0855593 and the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02-97ER41042 . Publisher Copyright: ©2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PY - 2014/11

Y1 - 2014/11

N2 - The cryogenic design and performance of an apparatus used to magnetically confine ultracold neutrons (UCN) is presented. The apparatus is part of an effort to measure the beta-decay lifetime of the free neutron and is comprised of a high-current superconducting magnetic trap that surrounds ∼21 l of isotopically pure 4He cooled to approximately 250 mK. A 0.89 nm neutron beam can enter the apparatus from one end of the magnetic trap and a light collection system allows visible light generated within the helium by decays to be transported to detectors at room temperature. Two cryocoolers are incorporated to reduce liquid helium consumption.

AB - The cryogenic design and performance of an apparatus used to magnetically confine ultracold neutrons (UCN) is presented. The apparatus is part of an effort to measure the beta-decay lifetime of the free neutron and is comprised of a high-current superconducting magnetic trap that surrounds ∼21 l of isotopically pure 4He cooled to approximately 250 mK. A 0.89 nm neutron beam can enter the apparatus from one end of the magnetic trap and a light collection system allows visible light generated within the helium by decays to be transported to detectors at room temperature. Two cryocoolers are incorporated to reduce liquid helium consumption.

KW - Cryocooler

KW - Magnetic trap

KW - Neutron lifetime

KW - Ultracold neutrons

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908402809&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84908402809&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.cryogenics.2014.09.008

DO - 10.1016/j.cryogenics.2014.09.008

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84908402809

SN - 0011-2275

VL - 64

SP - 40

EP - 50

JO - Cryogenics

JF - Cryogenics

ER -

Design and performance of a cryogenic apparatus for magnetically trapping ultracold neutrons

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Online availability

Library availability

Related links

Fingerprint

Cite this