The worldâs strongest and purest neutron beam
During a maintenance break in 2011, the Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) instrument was improved to provide the neutron beam at the Technische Universität München with the best ratio between usable neutrons and noisy background radiation worldwide. The PGAA generates up to 60 billion neutrons per square millimeter per second, setting a world record among the scientific instruments of all research neutron sources. The measurement device can detect a single atom among one million other atoms. The methodology is so extremely accurate that it is even possible to determine which mine delivered the ore used in a given antique coin. With this technology, the theory about a meteorite impact in North America around 13,000 years ago being responsible for the extinction of the mammoths could be verified.