Why new neutron detector materials must replace helium-3

Hurd, Alan J.; Kouzes, Richard T.

doi:10.1140/epjp/i2014-14236-6

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…The need for alternatives has triggered a whole new line of detector research toward helium replacement. [84] From the landscape of ongoing developments, a convincing alternative is yet to be found, [85] but some results are promising [86].…”

Section: Neutron Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research opportunities with compact accelerator-driven neutron sources

et al. 2016

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Since the discovery of the neutron in 1934 neutron beams have been used in a very broad range of applications, As an aging fleet of nuclear reactor sources is retired the use of compact accelerator-driven neutron sources (CANS) are becoming more prevalent. CANS are playing a significant and expanding role in research and development in science and engineering, as well as in education and training. In the realm of multidisciplinary applications, CANS offer opportunities over a wide range of technical utilization, from interrogation of civil structures to medical therapy to cultural heritage study. This paper aims to provide the first comprehensive overview of the history, current status of operation, and ongoing development of CANS worldwide. The basic physics and engineering regarding neutron production by accelerators, target-moderator systems, and beam line instrumentation are introduced, followed by an extensive discussion of various evolving applications currently exploited at CANS.

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Section: Neutron Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research opportunities with compact accelerator-driven neutron sources

et al. 2016

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“…The 3 He-based technology has been predominant for thermal neutrons detection. Both the availability [9] and the requirements of higher performance, e.g., of counting rate capability, spatial resolution and background sensitivity, are the reasons why a number of research programs are now aiming to find technologies that would replace [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. A promising technique is based on solid converter layers ( 10 B, Gd) and either gas proportional counter or solid state material as the sensing medium.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fast neutron sensitivity for 3He detectors and comparison with Boron-10 based neutron detectors

et al. 2019

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The 3 He-based neutron detectors are no longer the default solution for neutron scattering applications. Both the inability of fulfilling the requirements in performance, needed for the new instruments, and the shortage of 3 He, drove a series of research programs aiming to find new technologies for neutron detection. The characteristics of the new detector technologies have been extensively tested to prove their effectiveness with respect to the state-of-the-art technology.Among these, the background rejection capability is crucial to determine. The signal-to-background ratio is strongly related to the performance figure-of-merit for most instruments. These are designed to exploit the high flux expected from the new high intensity neutron sources. Therefore, an inadequate background rejection could significantly affect the measurements, leading to detector saturation and misleading events. This is of particular importance for the kind of techniques in which the signals are rather weak.For the first time, the sensitivity of 3 He detectors to fast neutrons, up to E n = 10 MeV, has been estimated. Two independent measurements are presented: a direct calculation based on a subtraction method used to disentangle the thermal and the fast neutron contribution, while a further evidence is calculated indirectly through a comparison with the recently published data from a 10 B-based detector. Both investigations give a characterization on the order of magnitude for the sensitivity. A set of simulations is presented as well in order to support and to validate the results of the measurements. A sensitivity of 4 · 10 −3 is observed from the data. This is two orders of magnitude higher than that previously observed in 10 B-based detectors.

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“…The Q−value (764 keV) is lower than the previous two cases, but the cross section for this reaction is higher than the other two. Although 3 He is commercially available, it is lately much less available and more expensive [21,22]. The availability [23,24] and the requirements of higher performances, as explained in chapter 3, are the reason why a number of research programs are aiming to find technologies that would replace the technology based on 3 He gas [22,25,26].…”

Section: Neutron Detectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and characterization of detectors for large area application in neutron scattering and small area application in neutron reflectometry

Mauri

2019

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Why new neutron detector materials must replace helium-3

Cited by 28 publications

References 1 publication

Research opportunities with compact accelerator-driven neutron sources

Research opportunities with compact accelerator-driven neutron sources

Fast neutron sensitivity for 3He detectors and comparison with Boron-10 based neutron detectors

Development and characterization of detectors for large area application in neutron scattering and small area application in neutron reflectometry

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