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Register a new userDecoupling of a Neutron Interferometer from Temperature Gradients
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Neutron interferometry enables precision measurements that are typically operated within elaborate, multi-layered facilities which provide substantial shielding from environmental noise. These facilities are necessary to maintain the coherence requirements in a perfect crystal neutron interferometer which is extremely sensitive to local environmental conditions such as temperature gradients across the interferometer, external vibrations, and acoustic waves. The ease of operation and breadth of applications of perfect crystal neutron interferometry would greatly benefit from a mode of operation which relaxes these stringent isolation requirements. Here, the INDEX Collaboration and National Institute of Standards and Technology demonstrates the functionality of a neutron interferometer in vacuum and characterize the use of a compact vacuum chamber enclosure as a means to isolate the interferometer from spatial temperature gradients and time-dependent temperature fluctuations. The vacuum chamber is found to have no depreciable effect on the performance of the interferometer (contrast) while improving system stability, thereby showing that it is feasible to replace large temperature isolation and control systems with a compact vacuum enclosure for perfect crystal neutron interferometry.
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Bonner Spheres have been used widely for the measurement of neutron spectra with neutron energies ranged from thermal up to at least 20 MeV. A Bonner Sphere neutron spectrometer (BSS) was developed by extending a Berthold LB 6411 neutron-dose-rate meter. The BSS consists of a $^{3}$He thermal-neutron detector with integrated electronics, a set of eight polyethylene spherical shells and two optional lead shells of various sizes. The response matrix of the BSS was calculated with GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation. The BSS had a calibration uncertainty of $pm 8.6%$ and a detector background rate of $(1.57 pm 0.04) times 10^{-3}$ s$^{-1}$. A spectral unfolding code NSUGA was developed. The NSUGA code utilizes genetic algorithms and has been shown to perform well in the absence of a priori information.
Atom interferometers have a multitude of proposed applications in space including precise measurements of the Earths gravitational field, in navigation & ranging, and in fundamental physics such as tests of the weak equivalence principle (WEP) and gravitational wave detection. While atom interferometers are realized routinely in ground-based laboratories, current efforts aim at the development of a space compatible design optimized with respect to dimensions, weight, power consumption, mechanical robustness and radiation hardness. In this paper, we present a design of a high-sensitivity differential dual species $^{85}$Rb/$^{87}$Rb atom interferometer for space, including physics package, laser system, electronics and software. The physics package comprises the atom source consisting of dispensers and a 2D magneto-optical trap (MOT), the science chamber with a 3D-MOT, a magnetic trap based on an atom chip and an optical dipole trap (ODT) used for Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) creation and interferometry, the detection unit, the vacuum system for $10^{-11}$ mbar ultra-high vacuum generation, and the high-suppression factor magnetic shielding as well as the thermal control system. The laser system is based on a hybrid approach using fiber-based telecom components and high-power laser diode technology and includes all laser sources for 2D-MOT, 3D-MOT, ODT, interferometry and detection. Manipulation and switching of the laser beams is carried out on an optical bench using Zerodur bonding technology. The instrument consists of 9 units with an overall mass of 221 kg, an average power consumption of 608 W (819 W peak), and a volume of 470 liters which would well fit on a satellite to be launched with a Soyuz rocket, as system studies have shown.
A tomographic gas-density diagnostic using a single-beam Wollaston interferometer able to characterise non-symmetric density distributions in gas jets is presented. A real-time tomographic algorithm is able to reconstruct three dimensional density distributions. A Maximum Likelihood -- Expectation Maximisation algorithm, an iterative method with good convergence properties compared to simple back projection, is used. With the use of graphical processing units, real time computation and high resolution are achieved. Two different gas jets are characterised: a kHz, piezo-driven jet for lower densities and a solenoid valve based jet producing higher densities. While the first is planned for to be used in bunch length monitors at the free electron laser at Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI, SwissFEL), the second jet is planned to be used for laser wakefield acceleration experiments, exploring the linear regime. In this latter application, well-tailored and non-symmetric density distributions produced by a supersonic shock front generated by a razor blade inserted laterally to the gas flow, which breaks cylindrical symmetry, need to be characterized.
Development of NTD Ge sensors has been initiated for low temperature (mK) thermometry in The India-based Tin detector (TIN.TIN). NTD Ge sensors are prepared by thermal neutron irradiation of device grade Ge samples at Dhruva reactor, BARC, Mumbai. Detailed measurements have been carried out in irradiated samples for estimating the carrier concentration and fast neutron induced defects. The Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS) measurements indicated monovacancy type defects for all irradiated samples, while Channeling studies employing RBS with 2 MeV alpha particles, revealed no significant defects in the samples exposed to fast neutron fluence of $sim 4times10^{16}/cm^2$. Both PALS and Channeling studies have shown that vacuum annealing at 600 $^circ$C for $sim2$ hours is sufficient to recover the damage in the irradiated samples, thereby making them suitable for the sensor development.
We demonstrate neutron beam focusing by axisymmetric mirror systems based on a pair of mirrors consisting of a confocal ellipsoid and hyperboloid. Such a system, known as a Wolter mirror configuration, is commonly used in x-ray telescopes. The axisymmetric Wolter geometry allows nesting of several mirror pairs to increase collection efficiency. We have implemented a system containing four nested Ni mirror pairs, which was tested by focusing a polychromatic neutron beam at the MIT Reactor. In addition, we have carried out extensive ray-tracing simulations of the mirrors and their performance in different situations. The major advantages of the Wolter mirrors are nesting for large angular collection, and aberration-free performance. We discuss how these advantages can be utilized to benefit various neutron scattering methods, such as imaging, SANS, and time-of-flight spectroscopy.
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