Direct experimental verification of neutron acceleration by the material optical potential of solid 2H2

I Altarev; F Atchison; M Daum; A Frei; E Gutsmiedl; G Hampel; F J Hartmann; W Heil; A Knecht; J V Kratz; T Lauer; M Meier; S Paul; Y Sobolev; N Wiehl

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.014801

Direct experimental verification of neutron acceleration by the material optical potential of solid 2H2

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Jan 11;100(1):014801. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.014801. Epub 2008 Jan 10.

Authors

I Altarev¹, F Atchison, M Daum, A Frei, E Gutsmiedl, G Hampel, F J Hartmann, W Heil, A Knecht, J V Kratz, T Lauer, M Meier, S Paul, Y Sobolev, N Wiehl

Affiliation

¹ Physik-Department, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.

PMID: 18232776
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.014801

Abstract

We have measured the acceleration of neutrons by the material optical potential of solid 2H2. Using a gravitational spectrometer, we find a minimal kinetic energy Ec = (99+/-7) neV of neutrons from a superthermal ultracold neutron (UCN) source with solid 2H2 as an UCN converter. The result is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions, Ec = 106 neV.