Development of High Intensity Neutron Source at the European Spallation Source

Project Information

HighNESS

Grant agreement ID: 951782

DOI

10.3030/951782

Project closed

EC signature date 3 July 2020

Start date 1 October 2020

End date 30 September 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Research Infrastructures

Total cost

€ 2 999 591,25

EU contribution

€ 2 999 591,25

Coordinated by

EUROPEAN SPALLATION SOURCE ERIC
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HighNESS (Development of High Intensity Neutron Source at the European Spallation Source)

Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2023-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The European Spallation Source ESS, presently under construction, is a multi-disciplinary laboratory and once completed at full specifications will operate the most powerful spallation source in the world. Initially, the source will be equipped with only a single moderator located above the spallation target that has been designed and optimized for delivering high brightness beams to the instruments that are now under construction at ESS. The flexible design of the ESS source leaves the opportunity to develop a second moderator system with complementary characteristics with respect to the moderator under construction. The scope of the HighNESS project is to make use of this possibility by designing the future ESS source and the second generation of the ESS instruments that will make use of an upgraded ESS.
The future ESS source will be composed of a Liquid Deuterium moderator (LD2) and also of two additional sources: a dedicated VCN (Very Cold Neutron) moderator and an Ultra Cold Neutron (UCN) source.

The new instrumentations developed by the project that will use the new sources currently convey a neutron imaging instrument, a spin-echo instrument, two small-angle scattering instruments, and also the neutron-antineutron oscillation experiment NNBAR.

Developing a new generation of neutron scattering instruments like the ones that are designed in the HighNESS project will impact a diverse range of scientific applications like dynamics and structure of polymers, large bio-molecules, liquid metals, and manufacturing, to name but a few.

The societal impact of the performance improvements of instruments in condensed matter research will foster economic competitiveness through direct access for the industry supporting advanced manufacturing as well as through the exploration and development of novel efficient and smart materials. Neutron imaging and SANS can serve a wide range of industrial applications, like in the past for the optimization of particulate filters as well as fuel cells for the automotive industry. Neutron spin-echo can for example provide unique information in the development of batteries, being a key element in the move away from fossil fuel.

Regarding the fundamental physics possibilities, the NNBAR experiment will have a unique reach in sensitivity beyond any future and running collider experiment. The observation of neutron-antineutron conversions would be a discovery of Nobel Prize-winning significance and will have a direct impact on almost all the future lines of research in modern physics.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first 18 months of the project, 11 milestones and 14 deliverables have been achieved. Many results have been obtained in the different WPs. WP2 has developed simulation software for magnesium hydride and deuteride and nanodiamonds particles. WP3 has performed several experiments at ILL to characterize promising materials to be used as neutron reflectors and the data analysis is currently ongoing. WP4 has already developed a baseline design for the Liquid Deuterium Moderator and is currently working on the design of the UCN and VCN sources. WP5 is working on the engineering of the liquid deuterium based on the design from WP4. WP6 in collaboration with WP2 has developed a plugin to describe nanodiamonds' small-angle neutron scattering and tested the code with McStas simulations with available experimental data. WP7 has already designed two SANS instruments, an imaging instrument, and work is started for the design of a spin-echo instrument. WP8 has already developed the full model of the NNBAR experiment from the reflector up to the annihilation detector. WP9 has provided the computing infrastructure for all the development carried out in the project. WP10 has produced the project website and wikipage. A summary of all these developments could be found in this article that has been accepted for publication https://arxiv.org/pdf/2204.04051.pdf.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The design of the HighNESS sources will allow ESS to become the most versatile spallation neutron source in the world since will offer high-brightness beams, high-intensity beams, and also a very cold and ultracold neutron source. These sources will allow the next generation of neutron scattering instruments at ESS, studied and developed in the project, to be world-leading in their field. Regarding the NNBAR experiment no other facility already existing and planned can compete with the expected sensitivity at the ESS.

At the end of the project, the conceptual design report CDR of the upgrade of the ESS facility will be delivered.
With this upgrade, the ESS will become one of the most attractive places in the world to perform research with neutrons attracting the best scientific communities in the world and it will further establish the leadership of Europe in neutron science.

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