13 research outputs found
High Spatial Resolution Fast-Neutron Imaging Detectors for Pulsed Fast-Neutron Transmission Spectroscopy
Two generations of a novel detector for high-resolution transmission imaging
and spectrometry of fast-neutrons are presented. These devices are based on a
hydrogenous fiber scintillator screen and single- or multiple-gated intensified
camera systems (ICCD). This detector is designed for energy-selective neutron
radiography with nanosecond-pulsed broad-energy (1 - 10 MeV) neutron beams.
Utilizing the Time-of-Flight (TOF) method, such a detector is capable of
simultaneously capturing several images, each at a different neutron energy
(TOF). In addition, a gamma-ray image can also be simultaneously registered,
allowing combined neutron/gamma inspection of objects. This permits combining
the sensitivity of the fast-neutron resonance method to low-Z elements with
that of gamma radiography to high-Z materials.Comment: Also published in JINST:
http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1748-0221/4/05/P0501
Updated Nucleosynthesis Constraints on Unstable Relic Particles
We revisit the upper limits on the abundance of unstable massive relic
particles provided by the success of Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis calculations. We
use the cosmic microwave background data to constrain the baryon-to-photon
ratio, and incorporate an extensively updated compilation of cross sections
into a new calculation of the network of reactions induced by electromagnetic
showers that create and destroy the light elements deuterium, he3, he4, li6 and
li7. We derive analytic approximations that complement and check the full
numerical calculations. Considerations of the abundances of he4 and li6 exclude
exceptional regions of parameter space that would otherwise have been permitted
by deuterium alone. We illustrate our results by applying them to massive
gravitinos. If they weigh ~100 GeV, their primordial abundance should have been
below about 10^{-13} of the total entropy. This would imply an upper limit on
the reheating temperature of a few times 10^7 GeV, which could be a potential
difficulty for some models of inflation. We discuss possible ways of evading
this problem.Comment: 40 pages LaTeX, 18 eps figure
Bolometric detectors as ion energy spectrometers
The response of a composite infrared bolometer to 5.4 MeV α particles from a 241Am source is examined. The bolometer consists of a 1 mm × 3 mm × 0.3 mm thick germanium thermometric element bonded to a sapphire substrate 50 μm thick and 6 mm in diameter. It operates at a temperature near 0.35 K. Slow voltage signals from the bolometer were converted to pulses and pulse height spectra were recorded. Energy resolutions of 60 keV (fwhm) were observed for particles interacting with the sapphire absorber. Other structure arising from interactions with other bolometer components was also observed. A 100-fold improvement in resolution is theoretically possible with bolometers of this type