A high-field adiabatic fast passage ultracold neutron spin flipper for the UCNA experiment

A. T. Holley, L. J. Broussard, J. L. Davis, K. Hickerson, T. M. Ito, C. Y. Liu, J. T.M. Lyles, M. Makela, R. R. Mammei, M. P. Mendenhall, C. L. Morris, R. Mortensen, R. W. Pattie, R. Rios, A. Saunders, A. R. Young

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

The UCNA collaboration is making a precision measurement of the β asymmetry (A) in free neutron decay using polarized ultracold neutrons (UCN). A critical component of this experiment is an adiabatic fast passage neutron spin flipper capable of efficient operation in ambient magnetic fields on the order of 1T. The requirement that it operate in a high field necessitated the construction of a free neutron spin flipper based, for the first time, on a birdcage resonator. The design, construction, and initial testing of this spin flipper prior to its use in the first measurement of A with UCN during the 2007 run cycle of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Centers 800MeV proton accelerator is detailed. These studies determined the flipping efficiency of the device, averaged over the UCN spectrum present at the location of the spin flipper, to be ε=0.9985(4).

Original languageEnglish
Article number073505
JournalReview of Scientific Instruments
Volume83
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2012
Externally publishedYes

Funding

We are indebted to the wonderful machinists in the NCSU PAMS machine shop as well as to Scott Currie and Henning Back. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF-0700491, NSF-0100689, NSF-0354970, NSF-0653222).

FundersFunder number
National Science FoundationNSF-0700491, NSF-0100689, NSF-0354970, NSF-0653222

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'A high-field adiabatic fast passage ultracold neutron spin flipper for the UCNA experiment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this