Source Testing Facility

STF

Neutrons of all energies are important probes of matter and are crucial to an increasingly number of applications in both scientific and industrial fields. For many novel developments, a dedicated facility offering easy and affordable access to neutrons is a vital prerequisite.

The Source-Testing Facility (STF) has been designed with these use cases and a low barrier-of-entry in mind. Hosted by Lund University (LU) and operated by the Applied Nuclear Physics group in collaboration with the Detector Group of ESS, the STF provides well-established and user-focused infrastructure, expertise in nuclear physics and detection techniques and access to neutrons from both accelerator-based neutron sources and neutron-emitting radioactive sources.

Each of the neutron production methods comes with distinct characteristics that make it ideally suitable for specific applications. Source-based continuous neutron beams provide stable fluxes of typically 10^6 neutrons per second for response and/or attenuation measurements as well as long-term irradiation measurements for dosimeter testing. Using a technique called "tagging" and the infrastructure present at the STF, it is even possible to study attenuation and detector responses as function of the neutron energy even with standard radioactive sources.

• Radioactive neutron and gamma sources
• Fast and thermal neutron detectors
• Gamma detectors
• The Aquarium: a setup designed for ""tagging"" fast neutrons
• Shielding and neutron moderation material
• Gases and gas handling: ArCO2, N, He-4
• Electronic modules, read-out electronics and data acquisition systems
• IT infrastructure available to users
• Tools, soldering station, safety equipment

Laser Testing Facility: setup allowing in-depth characterization of photo-multiplier tubes and photo-sensitive detectors using a calibrated laser.

Digital raw data, digital evaluated data, result compilations. Data stored locally.

• Beams of fast and thermalized neutrons from radioactive sources
• “tagged” beams of fast neutrons (2—6 MeV)
• access to accelerator-based neutron sources

Managed by Hanno Perrey