Study on the intrinsic detection efficiency of scintillator/Cherenkov detector for monitoring 14MeV neutrons by using foil activation method

Shan Qing; Fei Hao; Li Liang; Hu Zunhao; Zhu Hongkui; Jia Wenbao; Ling Yongsheng; Hei Daqian

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109761

Study on the intrinsic detection efficiency of scintillator/Cherenkov detector for monitoring 14MeV neutrons by using foil activation method

Appl Radiat Isot. 2021 Aug:174:109761. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109761. Epub 2021 May 3.

Authors

Shan Qing¹, Fei Hao², Li Liang², Hu Zunhao², Zhu Hongkui², Jia Wenbao³, Ling Yongsheng¹, Hei Daqian⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Science and Technolgy, College of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211106, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215000, China; Institute of Nuclear Analytical Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211106, China.
² Department of Nuclear Science and Technolgy, College of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211106, China; Institute of Nuclear Analytical Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211106, China.
³ Department of Nuclear Science and Technolgy, College of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211106, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215000, China; Institute of Nuclear Analytical Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211106, China. Electronic address: jiawenbao@163.com.
⁴ Institute of Nuclear Analytical Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211106, China.

PMID: 33971549
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109761

Abstract

A neutron detector, based on scintillator and Cherenkov detector, was designed to monitor the D-T neutron generator in a PGNAA online measurement system in our previous study. In this paper, the foil activation method was used to study the intrinsic detection efficiency of the detector to the D-T neutron generator. The Fe foil with 99.99% purity was selected as the activation foil. The experiments and the GEANT4 simulations were carried out to study the intrinsic detection efficiency of the monitor. The results show that the intrinsic detection efficiency of the monitor is 20.42% ± 0.76%. Then, the calibrated detector and Fe foils were simultaneously used to measure the neutron flux of D-T neutron generator. The relative deviation between the results of the two methods is 5.64%.

Keywords: Cherenkov detector; Foil activation method; Intrinsic detection efficiency; Neutron monitor; Scintillator detector.