Detection of neutrons in the low-temperature environment using superheated superconducting granules

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We have carried out a research of the detection of neutrons in a low-temperature environment using a target consisting of superheated superconducting tin granules (SSG). Conclusions obtained from the experiment are as follows.(1) It was confirmed that the number of flip signals due to neutrons decreased with the day. This fact is explained by considering that the compound of 6Li surrounding tin granules decreases through the interaction with background neutrons.(2) The average number of flip signals was 11 events every 3 hours when a neutron source was placed neaby the target, whereas that of flip signals was 7 events without the neutron source. Though the observed numbers fluctuated, the detection of neutrons was succeeded with SSG through the difference of the average numbers.Both George Waysand of Pris Univ. and Tom Girard of Lisboa Univ., who work in the field of SSG physics, agreed with our understanding on results of the experiment. They recommend us to present our results at "Particle Detection & Metastable Superconductivity" (http://alfl.cii.fc.ul.pt/cryo) to be held in June, 2000.(3) To reconfirm our understanding with full statistics, we will have another experiment using a neutron source with radioactivity stronger by one order of magnitude than that used this time. The difference of average flip numbers between with and without the new source is expected to be about 40 every 3 hours in a simple extrapolation from the results reported here.