High-pressure 4He drift tubes for fissile material detection

Zhehui Wang; Christopher L. Morris; F. E. Gray; J. D. Bacon; M. I. Brockwell; D. Y. Chang; K. Chung; W. G. Dai; S. J. Greene; G. E. Hogan; P. W. Lisowski; M. F. Makela; F. G. Mariam; P. L. McGaughey; M. Mendenhall; E. C. Milner; H. Miyadera; M. M. Murray; J. O. Perry; J. D. Roybal; A. Saunders; R. J. Spaulding; Z. You

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.019

High-pressure ⁴He drift tubes for fissile material detection

Zhehui Wang, Christopher L. Morris, F. E. Gray, J. D. Bacon, M. I. Brockwell, D. Y. Chang, K. Chung, W. G. Dai, S. J. Greene, G. E. Hogan, P. W. Lisowski, M. F. Makela, F. G. Mariam, P. L. McGaughey, M. Mendenhall, E. C. Milner, H. Miyadera, M. M. Murray, J. O. Perry, J. D. RoybalA. Saunders, R. J. Spaulding, Z. You

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

A detector efficiency model based on energy extraction from neutrons is described and used to compare ⁴He detectors with liquid scintillators (EJ301/NE-213). Detector efficiency can be divided into three regimes: single neutron scattering, multiple neutron scattering, and a transition regime in-between. For an average fission neutron of 2 MeV, the amount of ⁴He needed would be about 1/4 of the amount of the mass of EJ301/NE-213 in the single-scattering regime. For about 50% neutron energy extraction (1 MeV out of 2 MeV), the two types of detectors (⁴He in the transition regime, EJ301 still in the single-scattering regime) have comparable mass, but ⁴He detectors can be much larger depending on the number density. A six-tube 11-bar-pressure ⁴He detector prototype is built and tested. Individual electrical pulses from the detector are recorded using a 12-bit digitizer. Differences in pulse rise time and amplitudes, due to different energy loss of neutrons and gamma rays, are used for neutron/gamma separation. Several energy spectra are also obtained and analyzed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	91-97
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume	703
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.019
State	Published - 2013
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of the Department of Defense .

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Defense
Defense Threat Reduction Agency

Keywords

FPGA waveform digitizer
Neutron detection efficiency
Pulse-shape discrimination
Scalable
Sealed high-pressure He drift tubes

Access to Document

10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.019

Cite this

Wang, Z., Morris, C. L., Gray, F. E., Bacon, J. D., Brockwell, M. I., Chang, D. Y., Chung, K., Dai, W. G., Greene, S. J., Hogan, G. E., Lisowski, P. W., Makela, M. F., Mariam, F. G., McGaughey, P. L., Mendenhall, M., Milner, E. C., Miyadera, H., Murray, M. M., Perry, J. O., ... You, Z. (2013). High-pressure ⁴He drift tubes for fissile material detection. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 703, 91-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.019

@article{ba520bd296d94cae87d0908e6f26ec7a,

title = "High-pressure 4He drift tubes for fissile material detection",

abstract = "A detector efficiency model based on energy extraction from neutrons is described and used to compare 4He detectors with liquid scintillators (EJ301/NE-213). Detector efficiency can be divided into three regimes: single neutron scattering, multiple neutron scattering, and a transition regime in-between. For an average fission neutron of 2 MeV, the amount of 4He needed would be about 1/4 of the amount of the mass of EJ301/NE-213 in the single-scattering regime. For about 50% neutron energy extraction (1 MeV out of 2 MeV), the two types of detectors (4He in the transition regime, EJ301 still in the single-scattering regime) have comparable mass, but 4He detectors can be much larger depending on the number density. A six-tube 11-bar-pressure 4He detector prototype is built and tested. Individual electrical pulses from the detector are recorded using a 12-bit digitizer. Differences in pulse rise time and amplitudes, due to different energy loss of neutrons and gamma rays, are used for neutron/gamma separation. Several energy spectra are also obtained and analyzed.",

keywords = "FPGA waveform digitizer, Neutron detection efficiency, Pulse-shape discrimination, Scalable, Sealed high-pressure He drift tubes",

author = "Zhehui Wang and Morris, {Christopher L.} and Gray, {F. E.} and Bacon, {J. D.} and Brockwell, {M. I.} and Chang, {D. Y.} and K. Chung and Dai, {W. G.} and Greene, {S. J.} and Hogan, {G. E.} and Lisowski, {P. W.} and Makela, {M. F.} and Mariam, {F. G.} and McGaughey, {P. L.} and M. Mendenhall and Milner, {E. C.} and H. Miyadera and Murray, {M. M.} and Perry, {J. O.} and Roybal, {J. D.} and A. Saunders and Spaulding, {R. J.} and Z. You",

year = "2013",

doi = "10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.019",

language = "English",

volume = "703",

pages = "91--97",

journal = "Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment",

issn = "0168-9002",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

Wang, Z, Morris, CL, Gray, FE, Bacon, JD, Brockwell, MI, Chang, DY, Chung, K, Dai, WG, Greene, SJ, Hogan, GE, Lisowski, PW, Makela, MF, Mariam, FG, McGaughey, PL, Mendenhall, M, Milner, EC, Miyadera, H, Murray, MM, Perry, JO, Roybal, JD, Saunders, A, Spaulding, RJ & You, Z 2013, 'High-pressure ⁴He drift tubes for fissile material detection', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 703, pp. 91-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.019

TY - JOUR

T1 - High-pressure 4He drift tubes for fissile material detection

AU - Wang, Zhehui

AU - Morris, Christopher L.

AU - Gray, F. E.

AU - Bacon, J. D.

AU - Brockwell, M. I.

AU - Chang, D. Y.

AU - Chung, K.

AU - Dai, W. G.

AU - Greene, S. J.

AU - Hogan, G. E.

AU - Lisowski, P. W.

AU - Makela, M. F.

AU - Mariam, F. G.

AU - McGaughey, P. L.

AU - Mendenhall, M.

AU - Milner, E. C.

AU - Miyadera, H.

AU - Murray, M. M.

AU - Perry, J. O.

AU - Roybal, J. D.

AU - Saunders, A.

AU - Spaulding, R. J.

AU - You, Z.

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - A detector efficiency model based on energy extraction from neutrons is described and used to compare 4He detectors with liquid scintillators (EJ301/NE-213). Detector efficiency can be divided into three regimes: single neutron scattering, multiple neutron scattering, and a transition regime in-between. For an average fission neutron of 2 MeV, the amount of 4He needed would be about 1/4 of the amount of the mass of EJ301/NE-213 in the single-scattering regime. For about 50% neutron energy extraction (1 MeV out of 2 MeV), the two types of detectors (4He in the transition regime, EJ301 still in the single-scattering regime) have comparable mass, but 4He detectors can be much larger depending on the number density. A six-tube 11-bar-pressure 4He detector prototype is built and tested. Individual electrical pulses from the detector are recorded using a 12-bit digitizer. Differences in pulse rise time and amplitudes, due to different energy loss of neutrons and gamma rays, are used for neutron/gamma separation. Several energy spectra are also obtained and analyzed.

AB - A detector efficiency model based on energy extraction from neutrons is described and used to compare 4He detectors with liquid scintillators (EJ301/NE-213). Detector efficiency can be divided into three regimes: single neutron scattering, multiple neutron scattering, and a transition regime in-between. For an average fission neutron of 2 MeV, the amount of 4He needed would be about 1/4 of the amount of the mass of EJ301/NE-213 in the single-scattering regime. For about 50% neutron energy extraction (1 MeV out of 2 MeV), the two types of detectors (4He in the transition regime, EJ301 still in the single-scattering regime) have comparable mass, but 4He detectors can be much larger depending on the number density. A six-tube 11-bar-pressure 4He detector prototype is built and tested. Individual electrical pulses from the detector are recorded using a 12-bit digitizer. Differences in pulse rise time and amplitudes, due to different energy loss of neutrons and gamma rays, are used for neutron/gamma separation. Several energy spectra are also obtained and analyzed.

KW - FPGA waveform digitizer

KW - Neutron detection efficiency

KW - Pulse-shape discrimination

KW - Scalable

KW - Sealed high-pressure He drift tubes

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U2 - 10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.019

DO - 10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.019

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84871114436

SN - 0168-9002

VL - 703

SP - 91

EP - 97

JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

ER -