Fast- and thermal-neutron detection with common NaI(Tl) detectors

Guntram Pausch; Achim Kreuels; Falko Scherwinski; Yong Kong; Mathias Kuester; Ralf Lentering; Andreas Wolf; Juergen Stein

doi:10.1117/12.2634915

4 October 2022 Fast- and thermal-neutron detection with common NaI(Tl) detectors

Guntram Pausch, Achim Kreuels, Falko Scherwinski, Yong Kong, Mathias Kuester, Ralf Lentering, Andreas Wolf, Juergen Stein

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12241, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XXIV; 122410B (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2634915
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2022, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Radionuclide Identification Devices (RIDs) or Backpack Radiation Detection Systems (BRDs) are often equipped with NaI(Tl) detectors. We demonstrate that such instruments could be provided with reasonable thermal- and fast-neutron sensitivity by means of an improved and sophisticated processing of the digitized detector signals: Fast neutrons produce nuclear recoils in the scintillation crystal. Corresponding signals are detectible and can be distinguished from that of electronic interactions by pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) techniques as used in experiments searching for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Thermal neutrons are often captured in iodine nuclei of the scintillator. The gamma-ray cascades following such captures comprise a sum energy of almost 7 MeV, and some of them involve isomeric states leading to delayed gamma emissions. Both features can be used to distinguish corresponding detector signals from responses to ambient gamma radiation. The experimental proof was adduced by offline analyses of pulse records taken with a commercial RID. An implementation of such techniques in commercial RIDs is feasible.

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Guntram Pausch, Achim Kreuels, Falko Scherwinski, Yong Kong, Mathias Kuester, Ralf Lentering, Andreas Wolf, and Juergen Stein "Fast- and thermal-neutron detection with common NaI(Tl) detectors", Proc. SPIE 12241, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XXIV, 122410B (4 October 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2634915

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