UCN
The Ultracold Neutron group, now the TRIUMF Ultracold Advanced Neutron (TUCAN) collaboration was created to measure the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM). This fundamental property, if non-zero, has serious ramifications for resolving the Baryogenesis problem.
Overview
The project has two main components: (a) the UCN source and (b) the nEDM experiment.
The source was largely completed and shown to be functional in 2026. It is operated primarily though EPICS, with monitoring though MIDAS histories with a MySQL database. It operates on beamline 1U (BL1U), splitting off of 1V (which later becomes BL1A). With a fast kicker magnet, the TUCAN collaboration can kick individual beam buckets to BL1U to take a fraction of beam, while enabling beam to BL1A. Design operating current is 40 uA. The UCN source has two end stations for experiments: one for the nEDM experiment, and the other is planned for PENeLOPE.
The nEDM experiment is the primary experiment for the UCN source and is composed of many subsystems, each with their own controls and DAQ setup. Experiments are generally conducted as follows:
1. produce UCNs in the source, 2. open a valve to let the UCNs diffuse to the experimental chamber 3. store the UCNs in the chamber for some time, while applying high voltage, and RF pulses 4. open the chamber valve to let the UCNs diffuse to the detectors
The subsystems with DAQ interfaces are as follows:
- Comagnetometer
- Cs Magnetometers
- B0 Coil
- B1 Coil
- Shim Coils
- Guiding coils
- Ambient Magnetic Coil (AMC)
- Ambient monitoring
- High voltage