Deuterated polyethylene coatings for ultra-cold neutron applications

TL;DR

This paper presents the development of deuterated polyethylene coatings for ultra-cold neutron applications, enabling improved neutron storage and transport with potential for advanced physics experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel coating technique for dPE with characterized properties, facilitating new UCN guide and storage designs for fundamental physics research.

Findings

Fermi potential of 214 neV measured

Wall loss coefficient of 1.3×10^4 per collision determined

Enables flexible UCN guides and storage solutions

Abstract

We report on the fabrication and use of deuterated polyethylene (dPE) as a coating material for ultra-cold neutron (UCN) storage and transport. The Fermi potential has been determined to be 214~neV and the wall loss coefficient $\eta$ is 1.3$\cdot$10$^4$ per wall collision. The coating technique allows for a wide range of applications and new possibilities in this field of physics. In particular, flexible and quasi-massless UCN guides with slit-less shutters and slit-less UCN storage volumes become possible. These properties enable the use in next-generation measurements of the electric dipole moment of the neutron.