Position-sensitive detection of ultracold neutrons with an imaging camera and its implications to spectroscopy

Journal Article · Mon May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.058· OSTI ID:1340965

Wei, Wanchun ^[1]; Broussard, Leah J. ^[1]; Hoffbauer, Mark Arles ^[1]; Makela, Mark F. ^[1]; Morris, Christopher L.  ^[1]; Tang, Zhaowen ^[1]; Adamek, Evan Robert ^[2]; Callahan, Nathen Brannan ^[2]; Clayton, Steven M. ^[1]; Cude-Woods, Chris B. ^[3]; Currie, Scott Allister ^[1]; Dees, E. B. ^[3]; Ding, Xinjian ^[4]; Geltenbort, Peter W. ^[5]; Hickerson, Kevin Peter ^[6]; Holley, Adam Tarte ^[7]; Ito, Takeyasu M. ^[1]; Leung, Kent Kwan Ho ^[3]; Liu, Chen -Yu ^[2]; Morley, Deborah Jean ^[1] ; Ortiz, Jose D. ^[1]; Pattie, Jr., Robert Wayne ^[1]; Ramsey, John Clinton ^[1]; Saunders, Alexander ^[1]; Seestrom, Susan Joyce ^[1]; Sharapov, E. I. ^[8]; Sjue, Sky K. ^[1]; Wexler, Jonathan William ^[3]; Womack, Todd Lane ^[1]; Young, Albert Raymond ^[3]; Zeck, Bryan Alexander ^[3]; Wang, Zhehui ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)
3. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)
4. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
5. Institut Laue Langevin, Grenoble (France)
6. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
7. Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville, TN (United States)
8. Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russia)

Position-sensitive detection of ultracold neutrons (UCNs) is demonstrated using an imaging charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. A spatial resolution less than 15μm has been achieved, which is equivalent to a UCN energy resolution below 2 pico-electron-volts through the relation δE=m₀gδx. Here, the symbols δE, δx, m₀ and g are the energy resolution, the spatial resolution, the neutron rest mass and the gravitational acceleration, respectively. A multilayer surface convertor described previously is used to capture UCNs and then emits visible light for CCD imaging. Particle identification and noise rejection are discussed through the use of light intensity profile analysis. As a result, this method allows different types of UCN spectroscopy and other applications.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 1340965
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1425698
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-16-22875
• Journal Information: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 830, Issue C; ISSN 0168-9002
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
atomic and nuclear physics
multilayer 10B surface detector
imaging detector
UCN spectroscopy