title: Thermal neutron response of a boron-coated GEM detector via GEANT4 Monte Carlo code.
abstract: In this work, we report the design configuration and the performance of the hybrid Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector. In order to make the detector sensitive to thermal neutrons, the forward electrode of the GEM has been coated with the enriched boron-10 material, which works as a neutron converter. A total of 5×5cm2configuration of GEM has been used for thermal neutron studies. The response of the detector has been estimated via using GEANT4 MC code with two different physics lists. Using the QGSP_BIC_HP physics list, the neutron detection efficiency was determined to be about 3%, while with QGSP_BERT_HP physics list the efficiency was around 2.5%, at the incident thermal neutron energies of 25meV. The higher response of the detector proves that GEM-coated with boron converter improves the efficiency for thermal neutrons detection.
authors.affiliation: Division of International Studies, College of Global Integrated Studies, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea; IAP, High Energy Physics Lab, Department of Physics, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jamil
authors.affiliation: IAP, High Energy Physics Lab, Department of Physics, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea. Electronic address: jtrhee@konkuk.ac.kr.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.affiliation: IAP, High Energy Physics Lab, Department of Physics, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Farzana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, South Korea. Electronic address: yjjeon@konkuk.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Jeon
keywords: Boron converter; Detector response; GEANT4; Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM); Monte Carlo simulation; Thermal neutrons