Polarized cold-neutron reflectometry at JRR-3/MINE2 for the development of ultracold-neutron spin analyzers for a neutron EDM experiment at TRIUMF

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the use of polarized cold-neutron reflectometry to evaluate iron film spin filters for ultracold neutron EDM experiments, enhancing development efficiency and measurement precision.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of polarized cold-neutron reflectometry to test and improve iron film spin filters for ultracold neutron EDM measurements.

Findings

First results of polarized cold-neutron reflectometry at MINE2

Complementary insights to UCN transmission tests

Accelerated development of spin filters

Abstract

The neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) is a sensitive probe for currently undiscovered sources of charge-parity symmetry violation. As part of the TRIUMF Ultracold Advanced Neutron (TUCAN) collaboration, we are developing spin analyzers for ultracold neutrons (UCNs) to be used for a next-generation experiment to measure the neutron EDM with unprecedented precision. Spin-state analysis of UCNs constitutes an essential part of the neutron EDM measurement sequence. Magnetized iron films used as spin filters of UCNs are crucial experimental components, whose performance directly influences the statistical sensitivity of the measurement. To test such iron film spin filters, we propose the use of polarized cold-neutron reflectometry, in addition to conventional UCN transmission experiments. The new method provides information on iron film samples complementary to the UCN tests and accelerates the development cycles. We developed a collaborative effort to produce iron film spin filters and test them with cold and ultracold neutrons available at JRR-3/MINE2 and J-PARC/MLF BL05. In this article, we review the methods of neutron EDM measurements, discuss the complementarity of this new approach to test UCN spin filters, provide an overview of our related activities, and present the first results of polarized cold-neutron reflectometry recently conducted at the MINE2 beamline.