Design parameters and technology optimization of 3He-filled proportional counters for thermal neutron detection and spectrometry applications

Mazed, Dahmane; Mameri, S.; Ciolini, Riccardo

doi:10.1016/j.radmeas.2012.06.002

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…For interactions near the walls there is a probability that one of the products is emitted onto the wall of the detector and its energy is not collected, resulting in the low energy continuum with 2 discontinuities at 191 and 573 keV. Right: pulse-heigh distribution recorded with a 3 He proportional counter, adapted from 5 .…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In large detectors both products of (1) fully deposit their energy in the proportional gas and the amplitude of the output pulses follows a Gaussian distribution with an average value proportional to Q ( Fig. 1 ) 5 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While travelling inside the 10 B layer, the α-particle and the 7 Li lose a fraction of their initial energy, which is not collected in the proportional gas. As a consequence the output pulses of these detectors do not follow a Gaussian distribution as in 3 He or BF 3 proportional counters 5 9 . Instead, their pulse-height distributions are the sum of two flat distributions, each corresponding to one of the products released in (2).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Novel concept for neutron detection: proportional counter filled with 10B nanoparticle aerosol

Amaro

Monteiro

Santos

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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The high neutron detection efficiency, good gamma-ray discrimination and non-toxicity of 3He made of proportional counters filled with this gas the obvious choice for neutron detection, particularly in radiation portal monitors (RPM), used to control the illicit transport of nuclear material, of which neutron detectors are key components. 3He is very rare and during the last decade this gas has become increasingly difficult to acquire. With the exception of BF3, which is toxic, no other gas can be used for neutron detection in proportional counters. We present an alternative where the 3He atoms are replaced by nanoparticles made of another neutron sensitive material, 10B. The particles are dispersed in a gaseous volume, forming an aerosol with neutron sensitive properties. A proportional counter filled with such aerosol was exposed to a thermal neutron beam and the recorded response indicates that the neutrons have interacted with the particles in the aerosol. This original technique, which transforms a standard proportional gas mixture into a neutron sensitive aerosol, is a breakthrough in the field of radiation detection and has the potential to become an alternative to the use of 3He in proportional counters.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Novel concept for neutron detection: proportional counter filled with 10B nanoparticle aerosol

Amaro

Monteiro

Santos

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…As such, the typical shape of the pulse height spectrum is independent of the absorbed neutron energy. It is rather a function of the reaction kinematics and detector-specific details, including the geometry (Crane and Baker, 1991 More information about neutron detectors can be found for example in Mazed et al (2012) and Persons and Aloise (2011).…”

Section: Neutron Detectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intercomparison of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensors andWater Balance Monitoring in an Urban Environment

Schrön¹,

Zacharias²,

Womack³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. Sensor-to-sensor variability is a source of error common to all geoscientific instruments, which needs to be assessed before comparative and applied research can be performed with multiple sensors. Consistency among sensor systems is especially critical when the signal is an integral value that covers a large volume within complex, urban terrain. Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensors (CRNS) are a recent technology that is used to monitor large-scale environmental water storages, for which a rigorous comparison study of numerous co-located sensors has never been performed. In this work, nine stationary CRNS probes of type CRS1000 were installed in relative proximity on a grass patch surrounded by complex urban terrain. While the dynamics of the neutron count rates were found to be similar, offsets of a few percent from the absolute average neutron count rates were found. Technical adjustments of the individual detection parameters brought all instruments into good agreement. Furthermore, the arrangement of multiple sensors allowed to find a critical integration time of 6 hours above which all sensors showed consistent dynamics in the data and their RMSE fell below 1 % of gravimetric water content. The residual differences between the nine signals indicated local effects of the complex urban terrain at the scale of several meters. Mobile CRNS measurements and spatial neutron transport simulations in the surrounding area (25 ha) have revealed that CRNS detectors are sensitive to sub-footprint heterogeneity despite their large averaging volume. The paved and sealed areas in the footprint furthermore damp the dynamics of the CRNS soil moisture product. We developed strategies to correct for the sealed-area effect based on theoretical insights about the spatial sensitivity of the sensor. This procedure not only led to reliable soil moisture estimation in drying periods, it further revealed a strong signal of interception and evaporation water that emerged over the sealed ground during and shortly after rain events. The presented arrangement offered a unique opportunity to demonstrate the CRNS performance in complex terrain, and the results indicate great potential for further applications in urban water sciences.

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“…More broadly, lithium-based scintillators also include lithiated glass [25]- [27] and scintillator crystals [28]- [31]. Other cold/thermal neutron detector technologies are based on helium-3 [32]- [34] or boron-10 [35]- [40], rather than lithium-6 neutron absorber isotope. ZnS(Ag) has a delayed fluorescence response to neutron induced fission of 6 Li, and is much slower for neutrons than for gamma radiation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-Time Signal Processing for Mitigating SiPM Dark Noise Effects in a Scintillating Neutron Detector

Pritchard

Chabot

Robucci

et al. 2021

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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A 6 LiF:ZnS(Ag) based cold neutron detector with wavelength shifting (WLS) fibers and SiPM photodetector was developed at the NIST Center for Neutron Research. For neutron scattering applications at the NCNR, detector false positives severely diminish the quality of very faint neutron scatter patterns. Thermal noise generated by the SiPM significantly increases the likelihood of false positives by the detector/discriminator. This paper describes and evaluates a digital real-time algorithm implemented on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) which quickly differentiates SiPM thermal noise and noise pulse pile-up from neutron signals. The algorithm reduces deadtime spent on examining noise pulses as well as reduces the number of false positives.

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Design parameters and technology optimization of 3He-filled proportional counters for thermal neutron detection and spectrometry applications

Cited by 19 publications

References 23 publications

Novel concept for neutron detection: proportional counter filled with 10B nanoparticle aerosol

Novel concept for neutron detection: proportional counter filled with 10B nanoparticle aerosol

Intercomparison of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensors andWater Balance Monitoring in an Urban Environment

Real-Time Signal Processing for Mitigating SiPM Dark Noise Effects in a Scintillating Neutron Detector

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