A prototype of neutron spectrometer based on diamond detectors has been developed. This prototype consists of a 6Li neutron converter sandwiched between two CVD diamond crystals. The radiation hardness of the diamond crystals makes it suitable for applications in low power research reactors, while a low sensitivity to gamma rays and low leakage current of the detector permit to reach good energy resolution. A fast coincidence between two crystals is used to reject background. The detector was read out using two different electronic chains connected to it by a few meters of cable. The first chain was based on conventional charge-sensitive amplifiers, the other used a custom fast charge amplifier developed for this purpose. The prototype has been tested at various neutron sources and showed its practicability. In particular, the detector was calibrated in a TRIGA thermal reactor (LENA laboratory, University of Pavia) with neutron fluxes of 108 n/cm2s and at the 3 MeV D-D monochromatic neutron source named FNG (ENEA, Rome) with neutron fluxes of 106 n/cm2s. The neutron spectrum measurement was performed at the TAPIRO fast research reactor (ENEA, Casaccia) with fluxes of 109 n/cm2s. The obtained spectra were compared to Monte Carlo simulations, modeling detector response with MCNP and Geant4. © 2015 IEEE.

Test of a prototype neutron spectrometer based on diamond detectors in a fast reactor

Pillon, M.;Pompili, F.
2015-01-01

Abstract

A prototype of neutron spectrometer based on diamond detectors has been developed. This prototype consists of a 6Li neutron converter sandwiched between two CVD diamond crystals. The radiation hardness of the diamond crystals makes it suitable for applications in low power research reactors, while a low sensitivity to gamma rays and low leakage current of the detector permit to reach good energy resolution. A fast coincidence between two crystals is used to reject background. The detector was read out using two different electronic chains connected to it by a few meters of cable. The first chain was based on conventional charge-sensitive amplifiers, the other used a custom fast charge amplifier developed for this purpose. The prototype has been tested at various neutron sources and showed its practicability. In particular, the detector was calibrated in a TRIGA thermal reactor (LENA laboratory, University of Pavia) with neutron fluxes of 108 n/cm2s and at the 3 MeV D-D monochromatic neutron source named FNG (ENEA, Rome) with neutron fluxes of 106 n/cm2s. The neutron spectrum measurement was performed at the TAPIRO fast research reactor (ENEA, Casaccia) with fluxes of 109 n/cm2s. The obtained spectra were compared to Monte Carlo simulations, modeling detector response with MCNP and Geant4. © 2015 IEEE.
2015
9781479999187
neutron spectrometer;diamond detector;fast reactor
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12079/5876
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