A hydrogen leak-tight, transparent cryogenic sample container for ultracold-neutron transmission measurements

The improvement of the number of extractable ultracold neutrons (UCNs) from converters based on solid deuterium (sD₂) crystals requires a good understanding of the UCN transport and how the crystal's morphology influences its transparency to the UCNs. Measurements of the UCN transmission through cryogenic liquids and solids of interest, such as hydrogen (H₂) and deuterium (D₂), require sample containers with thin, highly polished and optically transparent windows and a well defined sample thickness. One of the most difficult sealing problems is that of light gases like hydrogen and helium at low temperatures against high vacuum. Here we report on the design of a sample container with two 1 mm thin amorphous silica windows cold-welded to aluminum clamps using indium wire gaskets, in order to form a simple, reusable, and hydrogen-tight cryogenic seal. The container meets the above-mentioned requirements and withstands up to 2 bar hydrogen gas pressure against isolation vacuum in the range of 10^-5 to 10^-7 mbar at temperatures down to 4.5 K. Additionally, photographs of the crystallization process are shown and discussed.