Abstract
This paper describes the design and performance of a 50 liter, two-segment 6Li-loaded liquid scintillator detector that was designed and operated as prototype for the PROSPECT (Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum) Experiment. The two-segment detector was constructed according to the design specifications of the experiment. It features low-mass optical separators, an integrated source and optical calibration system, and materials that are compatible with the 6Li-doped scintillator developed by PROSPECT. We demonstrate a high light collection of 850±20 PE/MeV, an energy resolution of σ = 4.0±0.2% at 1 MeV, and efficient pulse-shape discrimination of low dE/dx (electronic recoil) and high dE/dx (nuclear recoil) energy depositions. An effective scintillation attenuation length of 85±3 cm is measured in each segment. The 0.1% by mass concentration of 6Li in the scintillator results in a measured neutron capture time of τ = 42.8±0.2 μs. The long-term stability of the scintillator is also discussed. The detector response meets the criteria necessary for achieving the PROSPECT physics goals and demonstrates features that may find application in fast neutron detection.
Original language | English |
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Article number | P06023 |
Journal | Journal of Instrumentation |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 29 2018 |
Funding
We further acknowledge support from Yale University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, Temple University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory LDRD program, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We gratefully acknowledge the support and hospitality of the High Flux Isotope Reactor and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy. This material is based upon work supported by the following sources: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics under Award No. DE-SC0016357 and DE-SC0017660 to Yale University, under Award No. DE-SC0017815 to Drexel University, under Award No. DE-SC0008347 to Illinois Institute of Technology, under Award No. DE-SC0016060 to Temple University, under Contract No. DE-SC0012704 to Brookhaven National Laboratory, and under Work Proposal Number SCW1504 to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and by Oak Ridge National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. This work was also supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery program under grant #RGPIN-418579 and Province of Ontario. Additional funding was provided by the Heising-Simons Foundation under Award No. #2016-117 to Yale University. J.G. is supported through the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program and A.C. performed work under appointment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation International Safeguards Fellowship Program sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of International Nuclear Safeguards (NA-241).
Keywords
- Liquid detectors
- Neutrino detectors
- Neutron detectors (cold, thermal, fast neutrons)
- Scintillators, scintillation and light emission processes (solid, gas and liquid scintillators)