A new method of measuring the electron-antineutrino angular correlation coefficient, little "a", from neutron decay-to be performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology-will require an electron spectrometer that strongly suppresses backscattered electrons. A prototype consisting of six trapezoidal veto detectors arranged around a plastic scintillator has been tested with an electron beam produced by a Van de Graaff accelerator. The results of this test and its implications for the little "a" measurement are discussed.

We describe a beta electron spectrometer for use in an upcoming experiment that will measure the beta-antineutrino correlation coefficient (a-coefficient) in neutron beta decay. Electron energy is measured by a thick plastic scintillator detector. A conical array of plastic scintillator veto detectors is used to suppress events where the electron backscattered. A Monte Carlo simulation of this device in the configuration of the a-coefficient experiment is presented. The design, construction, and testing of a full-scale prototype device is described. We discuss the performance of this spectrometer with respect to its suitability for the experiment.

The angular correlation between the beta electron and antineutrino in nuclear beta decay is characterized by the dimensionless parameter a. The value of a for free neutron decay, when combined with other neutron decay parameters, can be used to determine the weak vector and axial vector coupling constants gV and gA and test the validity and self-consistency of the Electroweak Standard Model. Previous experiments that measured a in neutron decay relied on precise proton spectroscopy and were limited by systematic effects at about the 5% level. We present a new approach to measuring a for which systematic uncertainties promise to be much smaller.

In this study, we investigated the influence of annealing conditions before irradiation on the ferroelectric and electromechanical properties of uniaxially stretched high-energy-electron-irradiated poly(vinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene) (HEEIP) copolymer (68/32 mol %) films. For films annealed at one fixed temperature before the irradiation (one-step annealing), the highest crystallinity, which was highly desirable for enhancing the electromechanical response, was obtained only for films annealed between 132 and 136 degreesC. In addition, annealing over 10 h in this temperature window resulted in a large increase in the crystal lamellar thickness, which was required for reducing the polarization hysteresis to a minimum in the HEEIP samples. For improvements in the mechanical qualities of the uniaxially stretched films, a two-step annealing procedure was investigated; that is, before the irradiation, the films were first annealed at a lower temperature to release the mechanical stress in the films due to the stretching and then were annealed in the high-temperature window to raise the crystallinity and crystalline size. The experimental results indicated that this approach could produce uniaxially stretched HEEIP films with much improved mechanical qualities. Furthermore, the uniaxially stretched HEEIP films with this two-step annealing exhibited the same electromechanical response as or an even higher one than that from the one-step-annealed HEEIP films. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.