Far-ultraviolet signatures of the H3e(n,tp) reaction in noble gas mixtures

Abstract

Previous work showed that the 3 He(n,tp) reaction in a cell of 3 He at atmospheric pressure generated tens of far-ultraviolet photons per reacted neutron. Here we report amplification of that signal by factors of 1000 and more when noble gases are added to the cell. Calibrated filter-detector measurements show that this large signal is due to noble-gas excimer emissions, and that the nuclear reaction energy is converted to far-ultraviolet radiation with efficiencies of up to 30%. The results have been placed on an absolute scale through calibrations at the NIST SURF III synchrotron. They suggest possibilities for highefficiency neutron detectors as an alternative to existing proportional counters.The 3 He(n,tp) process, in which a neutron reacts with a helion to produce a proton and a triton with excess energy of 764 keV, is one of the best-characterized neutron reactions [1]. This reaction is the trigger mechanism for the 3 He proportional counter, which is presently one of the most widely-used neutron detectors [2]. Here we discuss using the same trigger reaction to initiate far-ultraviolet (FUV) optical emissions, rather than electrical discharges. We have found cases in which about one-third of the nuclear reaction energy is converted to FUV emissions by noble-gas excimer molecules. Such high conversion efficiencies have been encountered previously in electric discharges [3][4][5][6] , irradiation of noble gases by beams of electrons [7-9] and proton [10] bombardment of noble gases. Here they are reported for the first time in the context of a nuclear reaction and put on a quantitative basis needed to evaluate their applicability in a new FUV-based neutron detector.Following previous work [11], we started with a gas cell containing pure 3 He and 3 He/ 4 He mixtures, exposed to neutrons with a deBroglie wavelength of 0.384 ± 0.004 nm, produced at the NIST Center for Neutron Research. At this wavelength, the cross section for the reaction 3 He(n,tp) reaction is (1.135 ± 0.012) x 10 -20 cm 2 . We measured FUV emissions in the cell with a filter-detector package that was calibrated at the NIST SURF III Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility. This package is discussed below, as are the procedures for absolute measurements of the neutron flux and modeling of the optical detection system. The combination of measurement and modeling enables us to determine the number of FUV photons produced per neutron reaction.In the work with pure 3 He and 3 He/ 4 He mixtures the source of the optical signal was determined to be Lyman α radiation from the 2p states of the 1 H and 3 H formed as neutralization and excitation products of the 3 He(n,tp) process [11,12]. We found that, at a 3 He pressure of 100 kPa, tens of FUV photons are produced for every reacted neutron. This number is already encouraging as concerns the prospects for an absolute neutron detector based on FUV emissions vs. the electrical discharges that drive proportional counters, as discussed previously [11]. When mixtures of Ar, Kr or Xe are added to the 3 He...

High-resolution, vacuum-ultraviolet absorption spectrum of boron trifluoride

“…Noble gas excimers decay by emission of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation that can be detected as a signature of neutron absorption. Hughes et al 5 found that tens of thousands of excimer VUV photons were generated per absorbed neutron, and in some cases approximately 30 % of the net nuclear reaction energy was channeled into VUV emissions by this process. McComb et al 6 found that around ten thousand VUV excimer photons could be generated per absorbed neutron for neutrons incident upon a thin film of boron in a noble gas near atmospheric pressure.…”

“…The measurements described here were motivated by concerns about VUV absorption by BF 3 , which if sufficiently strong would disqualify BF 3 as a substitute for 3 He in the arrangement described in Ref. 5.…”

“…The charged particles are then collected as a current pulse. In contrast, we aim to build a detector similar to that described in Hughes et al, 5 in which 3 He was mixed with various noble gases and irradiated with cold neutrons to produce the reaction:…”

Noble gas excimer scintillation following neutron capture in boron thin films

“…In a previous publication, we reported on interactions of cold neutrons with mixtures of 3 He and heavy noble gases 23 . Using CaF 2 , sapphire, and fused silica spectral filters the resulting radiation was identified as NGE emissions.…”