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Balibrea-Correa, J., Lerendegui-Marco, J., Calvo, D., Caballero, L., Babiano, V., Ladarescu, I., et al. (2021). A first prototype of C6D6 total-energy detector with SiPM readout for neutron capture time-of-flight experiments. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 985, 164709–8pp.
Abstract: Low efficiency total-energy detectors (TEDs) are one of the main tools for neutron capture cross section measurements utilizing the time-of-flight (TOF) technique. State-of-the-art TEDs are based on a C6D6 liquid-scintillation cell optically coupled to a fast photomultiplier tube. The large photomultiplier tube represents yet a significant contribution to the so-called neutron sensitivity background, which is one of the most conspicuous sources of uncertainty in this type of experiments. Here we report on the development of a first prototype of a TED based on a silicon-photomultiplier (SiPM) readout, thus resulting in a lightweight and much more compact detector. Apart from the envisaged improvement in neutron sensitivity, the new system uses low voltage (+28 V) and low current supply (-50 mA), which is more practical than the-kV supply required by conventional photomultipliers. One important difficulty hindering the earlier implementation of SiPM readout for this type of detector was the large capacitance for the output signal when all pixels of a SiPM array are summed together. The latter leads to long pulse rise and decay times, which are not suitable for time-of-flight experiments. In this work we demonstrate the feasibility of a Schottky-diode multiplexing readout approach, that allows one to preserve the excellent timing properties of SiPMs, hereby paving the way for their implementation in future neutron TOF experiments.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Barbagallo, M. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Giubrone, G., & Tain, J. L. (2013). High-accuracy determination of the neutron flux at n_TOF. Eur. Phys. J. A, 49(12), 156–11pp.
Abstract: The neutron flux of the nTOF facility at CERN was measured, after installation of the new spallation target, with four different systems based on three neutron-converting reactions, which represent accepted cross sections standards in different energy regions. A careful comparison and combination of the different measurements allowed us to reach an unprecedented accuracy on the energy dependence of the neutron flux in the very wide range (thermal to 1 GeV) that characterizes the nTOF neutron beam. This is a pre-requisite for the high accuracy of cross section measurements at n_TOF. An unexpected anomaly in the neutron-induced fission cross section of U-235 is observed in the energy region between 10 and 30keV, hinting at a possible overestimation of this important cross section, well above currently assigned uncertainties.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Barbagallo, M. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2018). Experimental setup and procedure for the measurement of the Be-7(n,p)Li-7 reaction at n_TOF. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 887, 27–33.
Abstract: Following the completion of the second neutron beam line and the related experimental area (EAR2) at the n_TOF spallation neutron source at CERN, several experiments were planned and performed. The high instantaneous neutron flux available in EAR2 allows to investigate neutron induced reactions with charged particles in the exit channel even employing targets made out of small amounts of short-lived radioactive isotopes. After the successful measurement of the Be-7(n,alpha)alpha cross section, the Be-7(n,p)Li-7 reaction was studied in order to provide still missing cross section data of relevance for Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), in an attempt to find a solution to the cosmological Lithium abundance problem. This paper describes the experimental setup employed in such a measurement and its characterization.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Barbagallo, M. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2016). Be-7(n,alpha)He-4 Reaction and the Cosmological Lithium Problem: Measurement of the Cross Section in a Wide Energy Range at n_TOF at CERN. Phys. Rev. Lett., 117(15), 152701–7pp.
Abstract: The energy-dependent cross section of the (7)Bed(n,alpha)He-4 reaction, of interest for the so-called cosmological lithium problem in big bang nucleosynthesis, has been measured for the first time from 10 meV to 10 keV neutron energy. The challenges posed by the short half-life of Be-7 and by the low reaction cross section have been overcome at nTOF thanks to an unprecedented combination of the extremely high luminosity and good resolution of the neutron beam in the new experimental area (EAR2) of the nTOF facility at CERN, the availability of a sufficient amount of chemically pure Be-7, and a specifically designed experimental setup. Coincidences between the two alpha particles have been recorded in two Si-Be-7-Si arrays placed directly in the neutron beam. The present results are consistent, at thermal neutron energy, with the only previous measurement performed in the 1960s at a nuclear reactor. The energy dependence reported here clearly indicates the inadequacy of the cross section estimates currently used in BBN calculations. Although new measurements at higher neutron energy may still be needed, the n_TOF results hint at a minor role of this reaction in BBN, leaving the long-standing cosmological lithium problem unsolved.
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