Neutron Detection with Noble Gas Scintillation: A Review of Recent Results

Thermal neutron detection is of vital importance to many disciplines, including neutron scattering, workplace monitoring, and homeland protection. We survey recent results from our collaboration which couple low-pressure noble gas scintillation with novel approaches to neutron absorbing materials and geometries to achieve potentially advantageous detector concepts. Noble gas scintillators were used for neutron detection as early as the late 1950's. Modern use of noble gas scintillation includes liquid and solid forms of argon and xenon in the dark matter and neutron physics experiments and commercially available high pressure applications have achieved high resolution gamma ray spectroscopy. Little attention has been paid to the overlap between low pressure noble gas scintillation and thermal neutron detection, for which there are many potential benefits.