Abstract
Ultracold neutron (UCN) projection imaging is demonstrated using a boron-coated back-illuminated CCD camera and the Los Alamos UCN source. Each neutron is recorded through the capture reactions with10B. By direct detection at least one of the byproducts α, 7Li and γ (electron recoils) derived from the neutron capture and reduction of thermal noise of the scientific CCD camera, a signal-to-noise improvement on the order of 104 over the indirect detection has been achieved. Sub-pixel position resolution of a few microns is confirmed for individual UCN events. Projection imaging of test objects shows a spatial resolution less than 100μm by an integrated UCN flux one the order of 106 cm−2. The bCCD can be used to build UCN detectors with an area on the order of 1 m2. The combination of micrometer scale spatial resolution, low readout noise of a few electrons, and large area makes bCCD suitable for quantum science of UCN.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 165306 |
Journal | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment |
Volume | 1003 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 1 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This work was funded by the LDRD program of Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA . The CCD development work was supported in part by the Director, Office of Science, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 . NCSU is supported by National Science Foundation, USA 1914133 and DOE, USA grant DE-FG02-ER41042 .
Funders | Funder number |
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National Science Foundation | USA 1914133 |
U.S. Department of Energy | DE-AC02-05CH11231, DE-FG02-ER41042 |
Office of Science | |
Laboratory Directed Research and Development | |
Los Alamos National Laboratory |
Keywords
- B nanometer thin film
- Direct detection
- Low background
- Neutron detection efficiency
- Projection imaging
- Ultracold neutrons