Study of a nTHGEM-based thermal neutron detector

Ke Li; Jian-Rong Zhou; Xiao-Dong Wang; Tao Xiong; Ying Zhang; Yu-Guang Xie; Liang Zhou; Hong Xu; Gui-An Yang; Yan-Feng Wang; Yan Wang; Jin-Jie Wu; Zhi-Jia Sun; Bi-Tao Hu

doi:10.1088/1674-1137/40/7/076002

Chinese Physics C> 2016, Vol. 40> Issue(7) : 076002 DOI: 10.1088/1674-1137/40/7/076002

Study of a nTHGEM-based thermal neutron detector

Ke Li ^1,2,3 ,
Jian-Rong Zhou ^1,2,3 ,
Xiao-Dong Wang ⁴ ,
Tao Xiong ⁵ ,
Ying Zhang ⁶ ,
Yu-Guang Xie ² ,
Liang Zhou ^2,3 ,
Hong Xu ^2,3 ,
Gui-An Yang ^2,3 ,
Yan-Feng Wang ^2,3 ,
Yan Wang ⁶ ,
Jin-Jie Wu ⁷ ,
Zhi-Jia Sun ^2,3,, ,
Bi-Tao Hu ^1,,

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Abstract：
With new generation neutron sources, traditional neutron detectors cannot satisfy the demands of the applications, especially under high flux. Furthermore, facing the global crisis in ³He gas supply, research on new types of neutron detector as an alternative to ³He is a research hotspot in the field of particle detection. GEM (Gaseous Electron Multiplier) neutron detectors have high counting rate, good spatial and time resolution, and could be one future direction of the development of neutron detectors. In this paper, the physical process of neutron detection is simulated with Geant4 code, studying the relations between thermal conversion efficiency, boron thickness and number of boron layers. Due to the special characteristics of neutron detection, we have developed a novel type of special ceramic nTHGEM (neutron THick GEM) for neutron detection. The performance of the nTHGEM working in different Ar/CO₂ mixtures is presented, including measurements of the gain and the count rate plateau using a copper target X-ray source. A detector with a single nTHGEM has been tested for 2-D imaging using a ²⁵²Cf neutron source. The key parameters of the performance of the nTHGEM detector have been obtained, providing necessary experimental data as a reference for further research on this detector.
- GEM ,
- THGEM ,
- neutron detection ,
- boron convertor ,
- alternative to 3He

References

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Ke Li, Jian-Rong Zhou, Xiao-Dong Wang, Tao Xiong, Ying Zhang, Yu-Guang Xie, Liang Zhou, Hong Xu, Gui-An Yang, Yan-Feng Wang, Yan Wang, Jin-Jie Wu, Zhi-Jia Sun and Bi-Tao Hu. Study of a nTHGEM-based thermal neutron detector[J]. Chinese Physics C, 2016, 40(7): 076002. doi: 10.1088/1674-1137/40/7/076002

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Received: 2015-11-20
Revised: 2016-02-18

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Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11127508, 11175199, 11205253, 11405191), Key Laboratory of Neutron Physics, CAEP (2013DB06, 2013BB04) and CAS (YZ201512)

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通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com

1.
沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院沈阳 110142

Study of a nTHGEM-based thermal neutron detector

Corresponding author: Zhi-Jia Sun,

Corresponding author: Bi-Tao Hu,

Received Date: 2015-11-20

Accepted Date: 2016-02-18

Available Online: 2016-07-05

Fund Project: Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11127508, 11175199, 11205253, 11405191), Key Laboratory of Neutron Physics, CAEP (2013DB06, 2013BB04) and CAS (YZ201512)

Abstract: With new generation neutron sources, traditional neutron detectors cannot satisfy the demands of the applications, especially under high flux. Furthermore, facing the global crisis in ³He gas supply, research on new types of neutron detector as an alternative to ³He is a research hotspot in the field of particle detection. GEM (Gaseous Electron Multiplier) neutron detectors have high counting rate, good spatial and time resolution, and could be one future direction of the development of neutron detectors. In this paper, the physical process of neutron detection is simulated with Geant4 code, studying the relations between thermal conversion efficiency, boron thickness and number of boron layers. Due to the special characteristics of neutron detection, we have developed a novel type of special ceramic nTHGEM (neutron THick GEM) for neutron detection. The performance of the nTHGEM working in different Ar/CO₂ mixtures is presented, including measurements of the gain and the count rate plateau using a copper target X-ray source. A detector with a single nTHGEM has been tested for 2-D imaging using a ²⁵²Cf neutron source. The key parameters of the performance of the nTHGEM detector have been obtained, providing necessary experimental data as a reference for further research on this detector.

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Study of a nTHGEM-based thermal neutron detector

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