An Ortho/Para Deuterium Converter for Ultra-Cold Neutron Production at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Primary Submission Contact
Adam Clark
Faculty Sponsor
Shirvel Stanislaus
Faculty Sponsor Email Address
shirvel.stanislaus@valpo.edu
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/Program
Physics and Astronomy
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Date
Fall 9-12-2014
Abstract
An Ortho/Para Deuterium Converter for Ultra-Cold Neutron Production at Los Alamos National Laboratory Adam Clark Mentors: Dr. Shirvel Stanislaus (Valparaiso), Scott Currie (LANL), Dr. Mark Makela (LANL)
The production of Ultra-Cold Neutrons (UCN) is essential for a number of experiments whose goal is to make precise measurements of neutron properties. With order-of-magnitude improvements in precision provided through the use of UCN, scientists plan to push towards physics beyond the Standard Model. At Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) a solid deuterium target is used for UCN production. As a result of previous studies, it is known that the storage time of UCN is dependent on the spin state of the deuterium target. The spin = 1 state of deuterium (para-D2), in which approximately one-third of the D2 molecules can be found, results in a shorter UCN residence time. Therefore, to lengthen the storage time, a conversion to the ground state (ortho- D2) is required. Because, in a solid sample of D2 it would take months for the sample to spontaneously relax to the required percentage of 99.8% ortho-D2, an Ortho/Para converter is used to accelerate the conversion. This project focuses on the design of a new, improved Ortho/Para Converter. The design requirements for the new Ortho/Para Converter for the LANL UCN system will be discussed. 1
Recommended Citation
Clark, Adam M., "An Ortho/Para Deuterium Converter for Ultra-Cold Neutron Production at Los Alamos National Laboratory" (2014). Fall Interdisciplinary Research Symposium. 59.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/fires/59
