A novel ceramic GEM used for neutron detection

• Published in: Nuclear engineering and technology Vol. 52; no. 6; pp. 1277 - 1281
• Main Authors: Zhou, Jianrong, Zhou, Xiaojuan, Zhou, Jianjin, Jiang, Xingfen, Yang, Jianqing, Zhu, Lin, Yang, Wenqin, Yang, Tao, Xu, Hong, Xia, Yuanguang, Yang, Gui-an, Xie, Yuguang, Huang, Chaoqiang, Hu, Bitao, Sun, Zhijia, Chen, Yuanbo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-06-2020; Elsevier; 한국원자력학회
• Subjects: 3He alternative; Gas electron multiplier; High counting rate; Neutron detector; Spallation neutron source; 원자력공학; Neutron detector; High counting rate; Gas electron multiplier; Spallation neutron source; 3He alternative
• ISSN: 1738-5733; 2234-358X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.net.2019.11.021

A novel ceramic Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) has been developed to meet the demand of high counting rate for the neutron detection which is an alternative to 3He-based detector at China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). An experiment was performed to measure the neutron transmittance of ceramic-GEM and FR4-GEM at the small angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument. The result showed the ceramic-GEM has higher transmittance and less self-scattering especially for cold neutrons. One single ceramic GEM could give a gain of 102-104 in the mixture gas of Ar and CO2 (90%:10%) and its energy resolution was about 27.7% by using 55Fe X ray of 5.9 keV. A prototype has been developed in order to investigate the performances of the ceramic GEM-based neutron detector. Several neutron beam tests, including detection efficiency, spatial resolution, two-dimensional imaging, and wavelength spectrum, were carried out at CSNS and China Mianyang Research Reactor (CMRR). The results show that the ceramic GEM-based neutron detector is a good candidate to measure the high intensity neutrons.