A new thermal neutron detector for protein crystallography

• Published in: IEEE transactions on nuclear science Vol. 46; no. 6; pp. 1916 - 1919
• Main Authors: Mahler, G.J., Radeka, V., Schaknowski, N.A., Smith, G.C., Yu, B., Zojceski, Z.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01-12-1999
• Subjects: ACCELERATOR FACILITIES; Anodes; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Centroids; CRYSTALLOGRAPHY; DESIGN; Detectors; Devices; Digital; Digital modulation; Energy resolution; INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; NEUTRON DETECTORS; Neutrons; POSITION SENSITIVE DETECTORS; Position sensitive particle detectors; Protein engineering; PROTEINS; Scattering; Segments; Spallation; THERMAL NEUTRONS; Timing; Wire
• ISSN: 0018-9499; 1558-1578
• DOI: 10.1109/23.819253

A new position-sensitive detector is being developed for protein crystallography studies at a spallation source. Based on eight, independent, wire proportional chamber segments housed in a curved pressure vessel, the device covers a scattering angle of 120 degrees, and has a collecting area of 1.5 m by 20 cm. The position resolution will be about 1.3 mm FWHM, with a total counting rate in excess of one million per second. Timing resolution, essential for a spallation source application, is of order 1 /spl mu/s and provides neutron energy determination that is well suited for crystallography. Advanced features of this device include a digital centroid finding scheme, a seamless readout between segments, and a wire array design that minimizes anode modulation. Details of the mechanical design are given, together with digital centroid measurements that illustrate accurate, uniform response.