Design and commissioning of a neutron counter adapted to high-intensity laser matter interactions

The advent of multi-PW laser facilities world-wide opens new opportunities for nuclear physics. With this perspective, we developed a neutron counter taking into account the specifics of a high-intensity laser environment. Using GEANT4 simulations and prototype testings, we report on the design of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of scientific instruments 2021-11, Vol.92 (11), p.113303-113303
Main Authors: Lelasseux, V., Söderström, P.-A., Aogaki, S., Burdonov, K., Cerchez, M., Chen, S. N., Dorard, S., Fazzini, A., Gugiu, M., Pikuz, S., Rotaru, F., Willi, O., Negoita, F., Fuchs, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beryllium
Boron 10
High density polyethylenes
High power lasers
Lasers
Modular design
Neutron counters
Neutrons
Nuclear physics
Plasma interactions
Plutonium
Recovery time
Sciences of the Universe
Scientific apparatus & instruments
Scintillation counters
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Summary:The advent of multi-PW laser facilities world-wide opens new opportunities for nuclear physics. With this perspective, we developed a neutron counter taking into account the specifics of a high-intensity laser environment. Using GEANT4 simulations and prototype testings, we report on the design of a modular neutron counter based on boron-10 enriched scintillators and a high-density polyethylene moderator. This detector has been calibrated using a plutonium–beryllium neutron source and commissioned during an actual neutron-producing laser experiment at the LULI2000 facility (France). An overall efficiency of 4.37(59)% has been demonstrated during calibration with a recovery time of a few hundred microseconds after laser–plasma interaction.
ISSN:0034-6748
1089-7623
DOI:10.1063/5.0057828