A Background-Free Direction-Sensitive Neutron Detector

被引：2
作者：
Ahlen, Steven [1 ]
Dujmic, Denis [2 ]
Fisher, Peter [2 ]
Inglis, Andrew [1 ]
Tomita, Hidefumi [1 ]
Wellenstein, Hermann [3 ]
机构：
[1] Boston Univ, Dept Phys, Boston, MA 02215 USA
[2] MIT, Dept Phys, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
[3] Brandeis Univ, Dept Phys, Waltham, MA 02453 USA
来源：
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NUCLEAR SCIENCE | 2010年 / 57卷 / 05期
基金：
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词：
Fissile materials; imaging time-projection chambers; neutron detectors; nuclear reactions; DARK-MATTER;
D O I：
10.1109/TNS.2010.2043115
中图分类号：
TM [电工技术]; TN [电子技术、通信技术];
学科分类号：
0808 ; 0809 ;
摘要：
The detection and measurements of properties of neutrons are of great importance in many fields of research, including neutron scattering and radiography, measurements of solar and cosmic-ray neutron flux, measurements of neutron interaction cross sections, monitoring of neutrons at nuclear facilities, oil exploration, and searches for fissile weapons of mass destruction. Many neutron detectors are plagued by large backgrounds from X-rays and gamma rays, and most current neutron detectors lack single-event energy sensitivity or any information on neutron directionality. Even the best detectors are limited by cosmic ray neutron backgrounds. All applications would benefit from improved neutron detection sensitivity and improved measurements of neutron properties. Here, we show data from a new type of detector that can be used to determine neutron flux, energy distribution, and direction of neutron motion. The detector is free of backgrounds from X-rays, gamma rays, beta particles, and relativistic singly charged particles. It is relatively insensitive to cosmic ray neutrons because of their distinctive angular and energy distributions. It is sensitive to thermal neutrons, fission spectrum neutrons, and high-energy neutrons, with detection features distinctive for each energy range. It is capable of determining the location of a source of fission neutrons based on characteristics of elastic scattering of neutrons by helium nuclei. A portable detector could identify 1 g of reactor grade plutonium 1 m away with less than 1 min of observation time.
引用
收藏
页码：2740 / 2746
页数：7
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