Performance evaluation of the Boron Coated Straws detector with Geant4

The last decade has witnessed the development of several alternative neutron detector technologies, as a consequence of upcoming neutron sources and upgrades, as well the world-wide shortage of $^3$He. One branch of development is the family of $^{10}$B-based gaseous detectors. This work focuses on the boron coated straws (BCS) by Proportional Technologies Inc., a commercial solution designed for use in homeland security and neutron science. A detailed Geant4 simulation study of the BCS is presented, which investigates various aspects of the detector performance, e.g. efficiency, activation, absorption and the impact of scattering on the measured signal. The suitability of the BCS detector for Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS), direct chopper spectrometry and imaging is discussed.Comment: 50 pages, 37 figures, minor changes after review, results unchange

NLO QCD calculations with HELAC-NLO

Achieving a precise description of multi-parton final states is crucial for many analyses at LHC. In this contribution we review the main features of the HELAC-NLO system for NLO QCD calculations. As a case study, NLO QCD corrections for tt + 2 jet production at LHC are illustrated and discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Presented at 10th DESY Workshop on Elementary Particle Theory: Loops and Legs in Quantum Field Theory, Worlitz, Germany, April 25-30, 201

Gamma/neutron classification with SiPM CLYC detectors using frequency-domain analysis for embedded real-time applications

A method for gamma/neutron event classification based on frequency-domain analysis for mixed radiation environments is proposed. In contrast to the traditional charge comparison method for pulse-shape discrimination, which requires baseline removal and pulse alignment, our method does not need any preprocessing of the digitized data, apart from removing saturated traces in sporadic pile-up scenarios. It also features the identification of neutron events in the detector’s full energy range with a single device, from thermal neutrons to fast neutrons, including low-energy pulses, and still provides a superior figure-of-merit for classification. The proposed frequency-domain analysis consists of computing the fast Fourier transform of a triggered trace and integrating it through a simplified version of the transform magnitude components that distinguish the neutron features from those of the gamma photons. Owing to this simplification, the proposed method may be easily ported to a real-time embedded deployment based on Field-Programmable Gate Arrays or Digital Signal Processors. We target an off-the-shelf detector based on a small CLYC (Cs2LiYCl6:Ce) crystal coupled to a silicon photomultiplier with an integrated bias and preamplifier, aiming at lightweight embedded mixed radiation monitors and dosimeter applications

A First Comparison of the responses of a He4-based fast-neutron detector and a NE-213 liquid-scintillator reference detector

A first comparison has been made between the pulse-shape discrimination characteristics of a novel $^{4}$He-based pressurized scintillation detector and a NE-213 liquid-scintillator reference detector using an Am/Be mixed-field neutron and gamma-ray source and a high-resolution scintillation-pulse digitizer. In particular, the capabilities of the two fast neutron detectors to discriminate between neutrons and gamma-rays were investigated. The NE-213 liquid-scintillator reference cell produced a wide range of scintillation-light yields in response to the gamma-ray field of the source. In stark contrast, due to the size and pressure of the $^{4}$He gas volume, the $^{4}$He-based detector registered a maximum scintillation-light yield of 750~keV$_{ee}$ to the same gamma-ray field. Pulse-shape discrimination for particles with scintillation-light yields of more than 750~keV$_{ee}$ was excellent in the case of the $^{4}$He-based detector. Above 750~keV$_{ee}$ its signal was unambiguously neutron, enabling particle identification based entirely upon the amount of scintillation light produced.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A review addresse

A simulational study of the indirect geometry neutron spectrometer, BIFROST at the European Spallation Source, from neutron source position to detector position

The European Spallation Source (ESS) is intended to become the most powerful spallation neutron source in the world and the flagship of neutron science in the upcoming decades. The exceptionally high neutron flux will provide unique opportunities for scientific experiments, but also set high requirements for the detectors. One of the most challenging aspects is the rate capability and in particular the peak instantaneous rate capability, i.e. the number of neutrons hitting the detector per channel or cm$^2$ at the peak of the neutron pulse. The primary purpose of this paper is to estimate the incident rates that are anticipated for the BIFROST instrument planned for ESS, and also to demonstrate the use of powerful simulation tools for the correct interpretation of neutron transport in crystalline materials. A full simulation model of the instrument from source to detector position, implemented with the use of multiple simulation software packages is presented. For a single detector tube instantaneous incident rates with a maximum of 1.7 GHz for a Bragg peak from a single crystal, and 0.3 MHz for a vanadium sample are found. This paper also includes the first application of a new pyrolytic graphite model, and a comparison of different simulation tools to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.Comment: 45 pages, 20 figure

Evaluation of a method for time-of-flight, wavelength and distance calibration for neutron scattering instruments by means of a mini-chopper and standard neutron monitors

Accurate conversion of neutron time-of-flight (TOF) to wavelength, and its uncertainty, is of fundamental importance to neutron scattering measurements. Especially in cases where instruments are highly configurable, the determination of the absolute wavelength after any change must always be performed. Inspired by the manner with which neutron spectrometers determine the absolute wavelength, we evaluate for the first time, in the author's knowledge, a commonly used method for converting TOF to neutron wavelength, the distance of a monitor from the source of neutrons and we analytically calculate the uncertainty contributions that limit the precision of the conversion. The method was evaluated at the V20 test beamline at the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB), emulating the ESS source with a pulse of 2.86 ms length and 14 Hz repetition rate, by using a mini-chopper operated at 140 Hz, beam monitors (BMs) and data acquisition infrastructure. The mini-chopper created well-defined neutron pulses and the BM was placed at two positions, enabling the average wavelength of each of the pulses created to be determined. The used experimental setup resulted in absolute wavelength determination at the monitor positions with a $\delta \lambda_{mean} / \lambda_{mean}$ of $\sim$1.8% for $\lambda >4$ \r{A}. With a modest increase of the distance between the reference monitor positions a $\delta \lambda_{mean} / \lambda_{mean}$ of below 0.5% can be achieved. Further improvements are possible by using a thinner monitor, smaller chopper disc openings and a higher rotational speed chopper. The method requires only two neutron measurements and doesn't necessitate the use of crystals or complex fitting, and could constitute a suitable addition to imaging, diffraction, reflectometers and small angle neutron scattering instruments, at spallation sources, that do not normally utilise fast choppers

The Monte Carlo Program KoralW version 1.51 and The Concurrent Monte Carlo KoralW&YFSWW3 with All Background Graphs and First Order Corrections to W-Pair Production

The version 1.51 of the Monte Carlo (MC) program KoralW for all $e^+e^-\to f_1\bar f_2 f_3\bar f_4$ processes is presented. The most important change since the previous version 1.42 is the facility for writing MC events on the mass storage device and re-processing them later on. In the re-processing one may modify parameters of the Standard Model in order to fit them to experimental data. Another important new feature is a possibility of including complete ${\cal O}(\alpha)$ corrections to double-resonant W-pair component-processes in addition to all background (non-WW) graphs. The inclusion is done with the help of the YFSWW3 MC event generator for fully exclusive differential distributions (event-per-event). Technically, it is done in such a way that YFSWW3 runs concurrently with KoralW as a separate slave process, reading momenta of the MC event generated by KoralW and returning the correction weight to KoralW. KoralW introduces the ${\cal O}(\alpha)$ correction using this weight, and finishes processing the event (rejection due to total MC weight, hadronization, etc.). The communication between KoralW and YFSWW3 is done with the help of the FIFO facility of the UNIX/Linux operating system. This does not require any modifications of the FORTRAN source codes. The resulting Concurrent MC event generator KoralW&YFSWW3 looks from the user's point of view as a regular single MC event generator with all the standard features.Comment: 8 figures, 5 tables, submitted to Comput. Phys. Commu

Overcoming High Energy Backgrounds at Pulsed Spallation Sources

Instrument backgrounds at neutron scattering facilities directly affect the quality and the efficiency of the scientific measurements that users perform. Part of the background at pulsed spallation neutron sources is caused by, and time-correlated with, the emission of high energy particles when the proton beam strikes the spallation target. This prompt pulse ultimately produces a signal, which can be highly problematic for a subset of instruments and measurements due to the time-correlated properties, and different to that from reactor sources. Measurements of this background have been made at both SNS (ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN, USA) and SINQ (PSI, Villigen, Switzerland). The background levels were generally found to be low compared to natural background. However, very low intensities of high-energy particles have been found to be detrimental to instrument performance in some conditions. Given that instrument performance is typically characterised by S/N, improvements in backgrounds can both improve instrument performance whilst at the same time delivering significant cost savings. A systematic holistic approach is suggested in this contribution to increase the effectiveness of this. Instrument performance should subsequently benefit.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. Proceedings of ICANS XXI (International Collaboration on Advanced Neutron Sources), Mito, Japan. 201

Tagging fast neutrons from an 241Am/9Be source

We report on an investigation of the fast-neutron spectrum emitted by 241Am/9Be. Well-understood shielding, coincidence, and time-of-flight measurement techniques are employed to produce a continuous, polychromatic, energy-tagged neutron beam.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotope