The nELBE neutron time-of-flight facility

The nELBE neutron time-of-flight facility has become operational at the ELBE superconducting linear accelerator at Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. Fast neutrons in the energy range from ca. 0.1 to 10 MeV are produced by the pulsed electron beam from ELBE impinging on a liquid lead circuit as a radiator. The short beam pulses of ∼10 ps provide the basis for an excellent time resolution for neutron time-of-flight experiments, giving an energy resolution of about ≪ 1 % at 1 MeV with a short flight path of ∼ 5 m. The neutron intensity on target is ca. 2*10⁴ n/s using an electron bunch charge of 77 pC and 100 kHz pulse repetition rate. A new superconducting RF injector that has been built at ELBE will increase the bunch charge to 2 nC.