Fast Neutron Spectroscopy with a Nitrogen-Based Gaseous Detector

I. Katsioulas , I. Giomataris (1) , P. Knights , T. Neep , K. Nikolopoulos , T. Papaevangelou , R. Ward

1 IRFU - Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers

A simple, efficient and safe to use but also affordable fast neutron spectroscopic system is the Holy Grail in many scientific and industrial communities. ³He based detectors provide a solution that fulfils most of the requirements but its high demand combined with its scarcity has created a worldwide shortage and efforts are focused on finding an alternative solution. Several detectors are proposed for this task, such as BF3proportional counters, plastic scintillators, and recoil detectors, all with disadvantages that make their adoption far from ideal. We propose a system based on a spherical proportional counter filled with nitrogen-based gas mixtures to exploit the ¹⁴N(n,α)B¹¹and ¹⁴N(n,p)C¹⁴reactions for the detection of fast neutrons. 3He and N2have comparable Q-values and absorption cross-sections for fast neutron capture, o ering similar detection capabilities. In the future, such a detector could be utilised in industrial applications such as reactor monitoring, medical physics, accelerator facilities, homeland security, fuel searches and serve as a tool in scientific research.

Mots clés: Detectors; Neutrons; Nitrogen; Radiation detectors; Physics; Spectroscopy; Velocity measurement

Domaines: Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]

I. Katsioulas, I. Giomataris, P. Knights, T. Neep, K. Nikolopoulos, et al.. Fast Neutron Spectroscopy with a Nitrogen-Based Gaseous Detector. 2019 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS) and Medical Imaging Conference (MIC), Oct 2019, Manchester, United Kingdom. pp.1-3, ⟨10.1109/NSS/MIC42101.2019.9060052⟩. ⟨hal-02614346⟩