Positron production using a 9 MeV electron linac for the GBAR experiment

Charlton M, Choi JJ, Chung M, Clade P, Comini P, Crepin PP, Crivelli P, Dalkarov O, Debu P, Dodd L, Douillet A, Guellati-Khelifa S, Hervieux PA, Hilico L, Husson A, Indelicato P, Janka G, Jonsell S, Karr JP, Kim BH, Kim ES, Kim SK, Ko YJ, Kosinski T, Kuroda N, Latacz B, Lee H, Lee J, Leite AMM, Leveque K, Lim E, Liszkay L, Lotrus P, Louvradoux T, Lunney D, Manfredi G, Mansoulie B, Matusiak M, Mornacchi G, Nesvizhevsky VV, Nez F, Niang S, Nishi R, Nourbaksh S, Park KH, Paul N, Perez P, Procureur S, Radics B, Regenfus C, Rey JM, Reymond JM, Reynaud S, Rousse JY, Rousselle O, Rubbia A, Rzadkiewicz J, Sacquin Y, Schmidt-Kaler F, Staszczak M, Tuchming B, Vallage B, Voronin A, Welker A, Van Der Werf DP, Wolf S, Won D, Wronka S, Yamazaki Y, Yoo KH (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Book Volume: 985

Article Number: 164657

DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2020.164657

Abstract

For the GBAR (Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest) experiment at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility we have constructed a source of slow positrons, which uses a low-energy electron linear accelerator (linac). The driver linac produces electrons of 9 MeV kinetic energy that create positrons from bremsstrahlung-induced pair production. Staying below 10 MeV ensures no persistent radioactive activation in the target zone and that the radiation level outside the biological shield is safe for public access. An annealed tungsten-mesh assembly placed directly behind the target acts as a positron moderator. The system produces 5×10⁷ slow positrons per second, a performance demonstrating that a low-energy electron linac is a superior choice over positron-emitting radioactive sources for high positron flux.

Involved external institutions

École Polytechnique - Université Paris-Saclay France (FR) Swansea University United Kingdom (GB) PSL Research University / Université de recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres France (FR) Université de Strasbourg (UDS) France (FR) University of Paris 11 - Paris-Sud / Université Paris XI Paris-Sud France (FR) Seoul National University (SNU) / 서울대학교 Korea, Republic of (KR) Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) / 울산과학기술원 Korea, Republic of (KR) Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ) / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich Switzerland (CH) Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (LPI RAS) / Физи́ческий институ́т имени П.Н.Ле́бедева Российской академии наук (ФИАН) Russian Federation (RU) Institute for Basic Science Korea, Republic of (KR) National Centre for Nuclear Research (früher:Institute of Atomic Energy POLATOM & Andrzej Sołtan Institute for Nuclear Studies) / Narodowe Centrum Badań Jądrowych (NCBJ) Poland (PL) University of Tokyo Japan (JP) Korea University Korea, Republic of (KR) Stockholm University / Stockholms universitet Sweden (SE) Europäische Organisation für Kernforschung (CERN) Switzerland (CH) Institute Laue-Langevin (ILL) France (FR) Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (JGU) Germany (DE) Riken Institute of Physical and Chemical Research / 理化学研究所 Japan (JP)

How to cite

APA:

Charlton, M., Choi, J.J., Chung, M., Clade, P., Comini, P., Crepin, P.-P.,... Yoo, K.-H. (2021). Positron production using a 9 MeV electron linac for the GBAR experiment. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 985. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2020.164657

MLA:

Charlton, M., et al. "Positron production using a 9 MeV electron linac for the GBAR experiment." Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 985 (2021).

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