Performance of a neutron spectrometer based on a PIN diode.
The neutron spectrometer discussed in this work consists of a PIN diode coupled with a polyethylene converter. Neutrons are detected through the energy deposited by recoil-protons in silicon. The maximum detectable energy is -6 MeV and is imposed by the thickness of the fully depleted layer (300 microm for the present device). The minimum detectable energy which can be assessed with pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) is -0.9 MeV. PSD is performed with a crossover method and setting the diode in the 'reverse-injection' configuration (i.e. with the N+ layer adjacent to the converter). This configuration provides longer collection times for the electron-hole pairs generated by the recoil-protons. The limited interval of detectable energies restricts the application of this spectrometer to low-energy neutron fields, such as the ones which can be produced at facilities hosting low-energy ion accelerators. The capacity to reproduce continuous neutron spectra was investigated by optimising the electronic chain for pulse-shape discrimination. In particular, the spectrometer was irradiated with neutrons that were generated by striking a thick beryllium target with protons of several energies and the measured spectra were compared with data taken from the literature.
Agosteo
S
S
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Nucleare, Politecnico di Milano, via Ponzio 34/3, 20133 Milano, Italy. stefano.agosteo@polimi.it
D'Angelo
G
G
Fazzi
A
A
Para
A Foglio
AF
Pola
A
A
Ventura
L
L
Zotto
P
P
D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D009502:Neutrons; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012666:Semiconductors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods