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Direction sensitive neutron detector

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1341874

A neutron detector includes a pressure vessel, an electrically conductive field cage assembly within the pressure vessel and an imaging subsystem. A pressurized gas mixture of CF4, 3He and 4He at respective partial pressures is used. The field cage establishes a relatively large drift region of low field strength, in which ionization electrons generated by neutron-He interactions are directed toward a substantially smaller amplification region of substantially higher field strength in which the ionization electrons undergo avalanche multiplication resulting in scintillation of the CF.sub.4 along scintillation tracks. The imaging system generates two-dimensional images of the scintillation patterns and employs track-finding to identify tracks and deduce the rate and direction of incident neutrons. One or more photo-multiplier tubes record the time-profile of the scintillation tracks permitting the determination of the third coordinate.

Research Organization:
Boston University, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
FG02-06ER41425; FG02-05ER41385; FG02-05ER41360
Assignee:
Trustees of Boston University (Boston, MA)
Patent Number(s):
9,557,423
Application Number:
12/893,221
OSTI ID:
1341874
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (2)

CCD readout of GEM-based neutron detectors
  • Fraga, F. A. F.; Margato, L. M. S.; Fetal, S. T. G.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 478, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(01)01829-0
journal February 2002
Observation of the “head-tail” effect in nuclear recoils of low-energy neutrons
  • Dujmic, D.; Tomita, H.; Lewandowska, M.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 584, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2007.10.037
journal January 2008

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