DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Conceptual design and first results for a neutron detector with interaction localization capabilities

Journal Article · · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
 [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [5]
  1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  3. Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville, TN (United States)
  4. Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States)
  5. Agile Technologies, Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States)

In this study, a new high-precision detector for studying neutrons from beta-delayed neutron emission and direct reaction studies is proposed. The Neutron dEtector with multi-neutron (denoted Xn) Tracking (NEXT) array is designed to maintain high intrinsic neutron detection efficiency while reducing uncertainties in neutron energy measurements. A single NEXT module is composed of thin segments of plastic scintillator, each optically separated, capable of neutron-gamma discrimination. Each segmented module is coupled to position sensitive photodetectors enabling the high-precision determination of neutron time of arrival and interaction position within the active volume. A design study has been conducted based on simulations and experimental tests leading to the construction of prototype units. First results from measurements using a 252Cf neutron source and accelerator-produced monoenergetic neutrons are presented.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; NA0002934; NA0002132; SC0016988
OSTI ID:
1763499
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1562145; OSTI ID: 1808844
Journal Information:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 946, Issue 1; ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (23)

Influence of sampling properties of fast-waveform digitizers on neutron−gamma-ray, pulse-shape discrimination for organic scintillation detectors
  • Flaska, Marek; Faisal, Muhammad; Wentzloff, David D.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 729 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2013.07.008
journal November 2013
Recent developments in Geant4
  • Allison, J.; Amako, K.; Apostolakis, J.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 835 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.06.125
journal November 2016
Nuclear structure at the proton drip line: Advances with nuclear decay studies journal April 2008
Radioactive decays at limits of nuclear stability journal April 2012
Development of an array of liquid-scintillator-based bar detectors: SABRE
  • Febbraro, M.; Walter, D.; Chipps, K. A.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 908 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.08.051
journal November 2018
NSCL and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) Project journal January 2014
Performance of the Versatile Array of Neutron Detectors at Low Energy (VANDLE)
  • Peters, W. A.; Ilyushkin, S.; Madurga, M.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 836 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.08.054
journal November 2016
Calibration of an organic scintillator for neutron spectrometry journal October 1968
The timing resolution of scintillation-detector systems: Monte Carlo analysis journal October 2009
Plastic scintillators with efficient neutron/gamma pulse shape discrimination
  • Zaitseva, Natalia; Rupert, Benjamin L.; PaweŁczak, Iwona
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 668, p. 88-93 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2011.11.071
journal March 2012
Geant4—a simulation toolkit
  • Agostinelli, S.; Allison, J.; Amako, K.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 506, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(03)01368-8
journal July 2003
Exotic nuclei explored at in-flight separators journal November 2017
TONNERRE: an array for delayed-neutron decay spectroscopy
  • Buţă, A.; Martin, T.; Timiş, C.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 455, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(00)00510-6
journal December 2000
β-decay branching ratios of the neutron-rich nucleus B 15 journal December 1991
ROOT — A C++ framework for petabyte data storage, statistical analysis and visualization journal December 2009
A digital data acquisition framework for the Versatile Array of Neutron Detectors at Low Energy (VANDLE)
  • Paulauskas, S. V.; Madurga, M.; Grzywacz, R.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 737 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2013.11.028
journal February 2014
Total characterization of neutron detectors with a 252Cf source and a new light output determination
  • Kornilov, N. V.; Fabry, I.; Oberstedt, S.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 599, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2008.10.032
journal February 2009
An analytical approach to the evaluation of the pulse shape discrimination properties of scintillators journal January 1995
Measurements of response functions of EJ-299-33A plastic scintillator for fast neutrons
  • Hartman, J.; Barzilov, A.; Peters, E. E.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 804 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2015.09.068
journal December 2015
Recent developments in plastic scintillators with pulse shape discrimination
  • Zaitseva, N. P.; Glenn, A. M.; Mabe, A. N.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 889 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.01.093
journal May 2018
An analytical approach to the evaluation of the pulse shape discrimination properties of scintillators journal January 1995
Total characterization of neutron detectors with a 252Cf source and a new light output determination
  • Kornilov, N. V.; Fabry, I.; Oberstedt, S.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 599, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2008.10.032
journal February 2009
Nuclear structure at the proton drip line: Advances with nuclear decay studies journal April 2008