Design of an Ultrathin Cold Neutron Detector

Published

June 11, 2018

Author(s)

A. Osovizky, Kevin N. Pritchard, Y. Yehuda-Zada, Jeffrey B. Ziegler, Louis E. Binkley, Peter NMN Tsai, Alan Keith Thompson, Nancy Hadad, George M. Baltic, M. Jackson, C. Hurlbut, Charles Majkrzak, Nicholas C. Maliszewskyj

Abstract

WE describe the designs, fabrication, and performance of an energy analyzing detector package for cold neutron spectrometers at the NIST Center for Neutron Research. The detector package consists of arrays of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite crystals set at takeoff angles corresponding to different neutron energies. Neutrons incident down the array will be selected out by the appropriate crystal and directed onto an associated neutron proportional counter. The arrays are capable of binning neutrons into one of 54 bins over an energy range of 2.29 meV to 5.11 meV. We describe theory of operation, the development of a highly efficient ultrathin neutron proportional counter, and the development of the arrays themselves. We present preliminary results for this detector array along with a mature design of the proportional counter. We also present enhancements we are pursuing prior to deployment of this technology.

Citation

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A

Volume

893

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

neutron detector, LiF:ZnS(Ag)

Citation

Osovizky, A. , Pritchard, K. , Yehuda-Zada, Y. , Ziegler, J. , Binkley, L. , Tsai, P. , Thompson, A. , Hadad, N. , Baltic, G. , Jackson, M. , Hurlbut, C. , Majkrzak, C. and Maliszewskyj, N. (2018), Design of an Ultrathin Cold Neutron Detector, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=924473 (Accessed October 14, 2025)