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Balibrea-Correa, J., Lerendegui-Marco, J., Ladarescu, I., Guerrero, C., Rodriguez-Gonzalez, T., Jimenez-Ramos, M. C., et al. (2022). Hybrid in-beam PET- and Compton prompt-gamma imaging aimed at enhanced proton-range verification. Eur. Phys. J. Plus, 137(11), 1258–18pp.
Abstract: We report on a hybrid in-beam PET and prompt-gamma Compton imaging system aimed at quasi real-time ion-range verification in proton-therapy treatments. Proof-of-concept experiments were carried out at the radiobiology beam line of the CNA cyclotron facility using a set of two synchronous Compton imagers and different target materials. The time structure of the 18 MeV proton beam was shaped with a series of beam-on and beam-off intervals, thereby mimicking a pulsed proton beam on a long time scale. During beam-on intervals, Compton imagingwas performed utilizing the high energy. -rays promptly emitted from the nuclear reactions occurring in the targets. In the course of the beam-off intervals in situ positron-emission tomography was accomplished with the same imagers using the beta+ decay of activated nuclei. The targets used were stacks of different materials covering also various proton ranges and energies. A systematic study on the performance of these two complementary imaging techniques is reported and the experimental results interpreted on the basis ofMonte Carlo calculations. The results demonstrate the possibility to combine both imaging techniques in a concomitant way, where high-efficiency prompt-gamma imaging is complemented with the high spatial accuracy of PET. Empowered by these results we suggest that a pulsed beam with a suitable duty cycle, in conjunction with in situ Compton- and PET-imaging may help to attain complementary information and quasi real-time range monitoring with high accuracy.
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Guerrero, C., Cano-Ott, D., Mendoza, E., Tain, J. L., Algora, A., Berthoumieux, E., et al. (2012). Monte Carlo simulation of the n_TOF Total Absorption Calorimeter. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 671, 108–117.
Abstract: The n_TOF Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) is a 4 pi BaF2 segmented detector used at CERN for measuring neutron capture cross-sections of importance for the design of advanced nuclear reactors. This work presents the simulation code that has been developed in GEANT4 for the accurate determination of the detection efficiency of the TAC for neutron capture events. The code allows to calculate the efficiency of the TAC for every neutron capture state, as a function of energy, crystal multiplicity, and counting rate. The code includes all instrumental effects such as the single crystal detection threshold and energy resolution, finite size of the coincidence time window, and signal pile-up. The results from the simulation have been validated with experimental data for a large set of electromagnetic de-excitation patterns: beta-decay of well known calibration sources, neutron capture reactions in light nuclei with well known level schemes like Ti-nat, reference samples used in (n,gamma) measurements like Au-197 and experimental data from an actinide sample like Pu-240. The systematic uncertainty in the determination of the detection efficiency has been estimated for all the cases. As a representative example, the accuracy reached for the case of Au-197(n,gamma) ranges between 0.5% and 2%, depending on the experimental and analysis conditions. Such a value matches the high accuracy required for the nuclear cross-section data needed in advanced reactor design.
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Magan, D. L. P., Caballero, L., Domingo-Pardo, C., Agramunt-Ros, J., Albiol, F., Casanovas, A., et al. (2016). First tests of the applicability of gamma-ray imaging for background discrimination in time-of-flight neutron capture measurements. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 823, 107–119.
Abstract: In this work we explore for the first time the applicability of using gamma-ray imaging in neutron capture measurements to identify and suppress spatially localized background. For this aim, a pinhole gamma camera is assembled, tested and characterized in terms of energy and spatial performance. It consists of a monolithic CeBr3 scintillating crystal coupled to a position-sensitive photomultiplier and readout through an integrated circuit AMIC2GR. The pinhole collimator is a massive carven block of lead. A series of dedicated measurements with calibrated sources and with a neutron beam incident on a Au-197 sample have been carried out at n_TOF, achieving an enhancement of a factor of two in the signal-to-background ratio when selecting only those events coming from the direction of the sample.
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Guerrero, C., Domingo-Pardo, C., Kappeler, F., Lerendegui-Marco, J., Palomo, F. R., Quesada, J. M., et al. (2017). Prospects for direct neutron capture measurements on s-process branching point isotopes. Eur. Phys. J. A, 53(5), 87–5pp.
Abstract: The neutron capture cross sections of several unstable key isotopes acting as branching points in the s-process are crucial for stellar nucleosynthesis studies, but they are very challenging to measure directly due to the difficult production of sufficient sample material, the high activity of the resulting samples, and the actual (n, gamma) measurement, where high neutron fluxes and effective background rejection capabilities are required. At present there are about 21 relevant s-process branching point isotopes whose cross section could not be measured yet over the neutron energy range of interest for astrophysics. However, the situation is changing with some very recent developments and upcoming technologies. This work introduces three techniques that will change the current paradigm in the field: the use of gamma-ray imaging techniques in (n,gamma) experiments, the production of moderated neutron beams using high-power lasers, and double capture experiments in Maxwellian neutron beams.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Guerrero, C. et al), Giubrone, G., & Tain, J. L. (2012). Simultaneous measurement of neutron-induced capture and fission reactions at CERN. Eur. Phys. J. A, 48(3), 29–9pp.
Abstract: The measurement of the capture cross-section of fissile elements, of utmost importance for the design of innovative nuclear reactors and the management of nuclear waste, faces particular difficulties related to the.-ray background generated in the competing fission reactions. At the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility nTOF we have combined the Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) capture detector with a set of three U-235 loaded MicroMegas (MGAS) fission detectors for measuring simultaneously two reactions: capture and fission. The results presented here include the determination of the three detection efficiencies involved in the process: epsilon(TAC)(n, f), epsilon(TAC)(n, gamma) and epsilon(MGAS)(n, f). In the test measurement we have succeeded in measuring simultaneously with a high total efficiency the U-235 capture and fission cross-sections, disentangling accurately the two types of reactions. The work presented here proves that accurate capture cross-section measurements of fissile isotopes are feasible at nTOF.
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