Boron nitride nanotube neutron detector
First Claim
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1. A boron nitride nanotube (“
- BNNT”
) based neutron detector comprising;
a chamber;
at least one photon detector positioned in the chamber;
a BNNT material positioned in the chamber;
and a scintillating material in the chamber;
wherein the scintillating material is selected from the group consisting of a gas and a liquid; and
wherein the at least one photon detector is positioned to detect at least a portion of photons emitted from ions traversing the scintillating material produced by neutron absorption in the chamber.
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Abstract
Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) with 10B combined with a scintillation gas can serve as the basis for detecting thermal neutrons by detecting light from the decay products of the thermal neutron'"'"'s absorption on the 10B atoms in the BNNT Material as the resultant decay products pass through the scintillating gas. BNNTs with 11B can be utilized as a scaffold for 238U and combined with a scintillation gas as the basis for detecting fast neutrons via detecting light from the fission decay products passing through the scintillating gas. Both technologies provide high spatial and temporal resolution for the detection of thermal neutrons and fast neutrons respectively.
61 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A boron nitride nanotube (“
- BNNT”
) based neutron detector comprising;a chamber; at least one photon detector positioned in the chamber; a BNNT material positioned in the chamber; and a scintillating material in the chamber; wherein the scintillating material is selected from the group consisting of a gas and a liquid; and wherein the at least one photon detector is positioned to detect at least a portion of photons emitted from ions traversing the scintillating material produced by neutron absorption in the chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- BNNT”
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21. A method of detecting neutrons comprising:
detecting at least a portion of photons emitted from ions traversing a scintillating material produced by neutron absorption in a chamber having BNNT material, wherein the scintillating material is selected from the group consisting of a gas and a liquid. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A BNNT based neutron detection system comprising a plurality of neutron detectors, each neutron detector comprising:
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a chamber; at least one photon detector positioned in the chamber; a BNNT material positioned in the chamber; a scintillating material in the chamber; wherein the scintillating material is selected from the group consisting of a gas and a liquid; wherein the at least one photon detector is positioned to detect at least a portion of photons emitted from the ions traversing the scintillating material produced by neutron absorption in the chamber.
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Specification