Head of Division - Dr. A.I. Kurbakov
Neutron Research Division (NRD) consists of two scientific departments and two research and development departments.
Scientific departments:
Neutron Physics Department (NPD) (headed by Corresponding Member of RAS Dr. A.P. Serebrov) consists of four laboratories:
Neutron Physics Laboratory (headed by Corresponding Member of RAS Dr. A.P. Serebrov);
Nuclear Spectroscopy Laboratory (headed by Dr. V.G. Zinoviev);
X- and γ-Ray Spectroscopy Laboratory (headed by Dr. V.V. Fedorov);
Molecular and Atomic Beams Laboratory (headed by Dr. V.F. Ezhov)
and two groups:
Weak Interaction Research Group (headed by Dr. A.N. Pirozhkov);
Nuclear Fission Physics Group (headed by A.M. Gagarsky);
as well as:
Test site of NPD
Condensed Matter Research Department (CMRD) (headed by Dr. I. A. Zobkalo) consists of four laboratories:
Disordered State Physics Laboratory (headed by Dr. N.N. Gubanova);
Neutron Physical and Chemical Research Laboratory (headed by Dr. V. T. Lebedev)
Crystal Physics Laboratory (headed by Dr. Yu.P. Chernenkov);
Materials Research Laboratory (headed by Dr. A.I. Kurbakov);
and
Condensed Matter Electrodynamics Group (headed by Dr. O.V. Gerashchenko);
as well as:
test site of CMRD
R&D Departments:
Semiconductor Nuclear Detectors Department (headed by Dr. A.V. Derbin);
Department of Operation of Neutron Stations at the PIK Reactor (headed by Dr. V. V. Tarnavich).
About the Division
The Neutron Research Division (NRD) is the Institute’s oldest scientific division. Its origins date back to the late 1950s and early 1960s and are linked to Lev Ilyich Rusinov (then head of Laboratory No. 10 at the Physical-Technical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences) — the initiator and scientific director of the construction of the WWR-M research nuclear reactor at the Physical-Technical Institute's nuclear branch in Gatchina. This reactor, which went into operation in late 1959, operated successfully for experimental purposes until 2016. It is currently in long-term shutdown mode. Professor L.I. Rusinov is credited with recruiting the first staff members to work on the reactor, who formed the core of the Neutron Research Laboratory (NRL) he established.
Over the years, thanks to the talent, creative exploration, and boundless enthusiasm of its staff, the Division has achieved outstanding results in the fields of nuclear and particle physics, condensed matter physics, and reactor physics and engineering. The innovative experimental methods developed by the Division, which are now widely used both in Russia and abroad, have enabled our team to become a world leader in research with polarized, cold, and ultracold neutrons.
Today, the Neutron Research Division is a unique team of physicists, engineers, technicians, laboratory assistants, and highly skilled workers. NRD currently employs 11 Doctors of Sciences and 48 Candidates of Sciences. The main directions of the NRD scientific activity are fundamental studies in the field of nuclear and elementary particles, and condensed matter physics. Neutrons are exceptionally versatile research tools because they are involved in all currently known types of interactions.
In recent years, significant progress has been made in the field of neutrino physics. In 2015, a 16-section honeycomb-type antineutrino detector was installed at the SM-3 reactor in the neutrino laboratory at the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (RIAR) as part of the Neutrino-4 experiment led by NRC "Kurchatov Institute" - PNPI. Measurements of the antineutrino flux as a function of distance from the reactor core were conducted to search for sterile neutrinos.
According to the editors of Physics World, the Borexino collaboration’s observation of neutrinos from the carbon–nitrogen–oxygen (CNO) cycle in the Sun was named one of the Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2020. The international Borexino collaboration involved scientists from NRC “Kurchatov Institute” – PNPI and the Kurchatov Institute. It was the first direct experimental evidence that the Sun produces a portion of its energy through the Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen (CNO) cycle.
The Borexino collaboration was awarded the prestigious 2021 Giuseppe and Vanna Cocconi Prize by the European Physical Society for its outstanding contributions to particle astrophysics and cosmology, specifically for pioneering, high-precision observations of solar neutrinos from the pp-process and the CNO cycle. Among the 95 awardees are several NRD employees.
In 2018, a precise measurement of the neutron lifetime was carried out using a magneto-gravitational trap made of permanent magnets, which, for the first time, made it possible to monitor all possible neutron losses directly during the experiment.
Research is underway to utilize new effects arising from Laue diffraction of neurons in ideal crystals to develop ultra-precise neutron spectrometry with a sensitivity to external forces on the order of 10⁻⁸ mng. A 7-order enhancement of the neutron Stern-Gerlach effect was observed using Laue diffraction in a crystal.
The GNEIS neutron time-of-flight spectrometer, operating at the SC-1000 synchrocyclotron, is currently utilized to perform high-precision measurements of neutron-induced fission cross sections and angular distributions of fission fragments at relatively low (up to 20 MeV) and intermediate (up to 500 MeV) energies.
A significant part of NRD’s research activities is devoted to the study of functional materials and the new physical phenomena observed in them. A series of studies is underway to address a fundamental scientific problem—the experimental determination of fundamental quantum states in low-dimensional magnetic materials. Research is being conducted on a variety of unique nanostructured materials, including multiferroics.
The current priority is the development and creation of the instrument suite for the PIK reactor facility. Scientists and engineers at NRD are currently developing new research instruments for PIK research reactor, constructing the first-phase instruments, finalizing the design, and beginning to build individual components of the second- and third-phase instruments. The physical installations created for the PIK reactor facility can be broadly divided into two categories: instruments for nuclear physics and condensed-matter-physics instruments. Nuclear physics instruments include: a source of ultracold neutrons (UCNs), “Neutrino” installation, “Neutron b-Decay” facility, FISCO fission fragment multiplicity study facility, DEDM facility (neutron EDM by crystal diffraction method), neutron radiation analysis (INAA), nuclear radiation spectrometer PROGRAS, IRINA facility for the study of radioactive isotopes on neutrons (being developed by HEPD staff). Condensed matter physics instruments can be classified according to the use of different types of neutron scattering on a sample. These are IN-1 (thermal neutrons), IN-2 (cold neutrons), and IN-3 (thermal polarized neutrons) three-axis spectrometers; small-angle scattering instruments TENZOR and MEMBRANA; the SESANS ultra-small-angle spin-echo diffractometer and the SEM spectrometer; powder diffractometers D1 and D3 and single-crystal diffractometer DC-1; reflectometers HARMONY and SONATA (developed by staff at the “Neutron Technologies” Engineering Center).
The Institute has always placed great emphasis on training scientific personnel. The Division's staff have long been teaching at universities in St. Petersburg. Graduates from these universities will form the core of the research staff at the International Center for Neutron Research on the basis of PIK research center.
The Division has long-standing collaborative ties with virtually all leading neutron physics centers in Russia and around the world.
