A compact neutron spectrometer system

Borgwardt, Tyler Cody; Bartlett, Kurtis David; Smith, Karl; Meierbachtol, Krista Cruse

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2021.166202

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A compact neutron spectrometer system

Borgwardt, Tyler Cody·Bartlett, Kurtis David·Smith, Karl·Meierbachtol, Krista Cruse

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Abstract

A portable neutron spectrometer, nSpec, has been developed for passive interrogation of fast neutrons ( 1 MeV) from neutron sources. The design of the system includes four EJ-301 liquid scintillation cells, a custom stand, and tungsten caps for gamma-ray shielding. Data acquisition settings were optimized to provide a dynamic range of up to > 15 MeV neutron energy. Additionally, the detector response matrix was characterized using a time-of-flight method based on gamma-ray tagged neutron emission from 252 Cf. The spectrum unfolding was characterized using measured and simulated spectra of AmBe and 252 Cf with the GRAVEL and MLEM methods. Monte Carlo methods were used to examine the uncertainty propagation and determine sufficient counts for a measurement.

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Borgwardt, Tyler Cody, Bartlett, Kurtis David, Smith, Karl, Meierbachtol, Krista Cruse. 2021-12-21. A compact neutron spectrometer system. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.166202

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