Study of a nTHGEM-based thermal neutron detector  

作　　者：李科 周健荣 王晓冬 熊涛 张莹 谢宇广 周良 许虹 杨桂安 王艳凤 王燕 吴金杰 孙志嘉 胡碧涛 

机构地区：[1]School of Nuclear Science and Technology,Lanzhou University,Lanzhou 730000,China [2]Institute of High Energy Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China [3]Dongguan Neutron Science Center,Dongguan 523803,China [4]School of Nuclear Science and Technology,University of South China,Hengyang,421001,China [5]Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology,Sun Yat-sen University,Zhuhai 519082,China [6]Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry,China Academy of Engineering Physics,Mianyang 621900,China [7]National Institute of Metrology,Beijing 100029,China

出　　处：《Chinese Physics C》2016年第7期100-104,共5页中国物理C（英文版）

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

摘　　要：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.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.

关 键 词：GEM THGEM neutron detection boron convertor alternative to 3He 

分 类 号：O571.53[理学—粒子物理与原子核物理]