Development of the Pulsed Neutron Source for DUNE Detector Calibration

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation long base-line neutrino experiment, which aims to answer some of the fundamental questions about the universe. DUNE will measure the oscillation probabilities of neutrinos and antineutrinos at unprecedented precision to quantify the Charge-Parity (CP) violation in the leptonic sector, which will shed light on the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. These measurements require a precision detector calibration that constrains the uncertainties from relevant detector response parameters. However, traditional calibration methods are insufficient due to the lack of abundant cosmic ray muons at the deep underground location, therefore new techniques must be developed to meet the calibration requirements. One of the main energy scale and resolution calibration strategies for DUNE is the Pulsed Neutron Source (PNS.) This device will inject quasi-monoenergetic neutrons into the detector modules, where their capture signatures can be used as a standard candle for energy scale and resolution calibration. In this talk, I will present the recent prototyping effort for the PNS system including tests performed at the South Dakota School of Mines neutron lab. The basic calibration concept and the characterization results will also be discussed.