Development of a lithium fluoride zinc sulfide based neutron multiplicity counter

Christian Cowles, Spencer Behling, Phoenix Baldez, Micah Folsom, Richard Kouzes, Vladislav Kukharev, Azaree Lintereur, Sean Robinson, Edward Siciliano, Sean Stave, Patrick Valdez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The feasibility of a full-scale lithium fluoride zinc sulfide (LiF/ZnS) based neutron multiplicity counter has been demonstrated. The counter was constructed of modular neutron detecting stacks that each contain five sheets of LiF/ZnS interleaved between six sheets of wavelength shifting plastic with a photomultiplier tube on each end. Twelve such detector stacks were placed around a sample chamber in a square arrangement with lithiated high-density polyethylene blocks in the corners to reflect high-energy neutrons and capture low-energy neutrons. The final system design was optimized via modeling and small-scale test. Measuring neutrons from a 252Cf source, the counter achieved a 36% neutron detection efficiency (ϵ) and an 11.7μs neutron die-away time (τ) for a doubles figure-of-merit (ϵ2∕τ) of 109. This is the highest doubles figure-of-merit measured to-date for a 3He-free neutron multiplicity counter.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)59-63
Number of pages5
JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume887
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 11 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Instrumentation

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