Coincident neutron detector for providing energy and directional information
First Claim
1. A neutron detector element comprising a neutron counter having an axis, a plurality of optical fibers extending along the axis of the neutron counter and peripherally arrayed around the neutron counter, and a scintillator material surrounding and optically coupled to the optical fibers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A neutron detector comprises a neutron counter, and a plurality of optical fibers peripherally arrayed around the counter. The optical fibers have thereon a layer of scintillator material, whereby an incident fast neutron can transfer kinetic energy to nuclei in one or more of the optical fibers to produce recoil protons. The recoil protons interact with the coating to produce scintillation light that is channeled along the optical fiber or fibers with which the neutron interacted. The slowed neutron passes into the neutron counter where the neutron effects generation of a signal coincident with the light produced in the optical fibers in which the neutron deposited energy.
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Citations
29 Claims
- 1. A neutron detector element comprising a neutron counter having an axis, a plurality of optical fibers extending along the axis of the neutron counter and peripherally arrayed around the neutron counter, and a scintillator material surrounding and optically coupled to the optical fibers.
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20. A neutron detector comprising:
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a cylindrical neutron counter having an axis;
a plurality of plastic optical fibers having hydrogen nuclei for interaction with incident fast neutrons, the optical fibers extending parallel to the axis of the neutron counter and bundled in a cylindrical array around and contiguous with the cylindrical neutron counter, with each optical fiber having an individual coating of scintillator material; and
first and second photodetectors optically coupled to the optical fibers at respective opposite ends of the optical fibers for receiving photons and generating representative output signals, said first photodetector being a position determining photodetector to which the adjacent end of each fiber is optically coupled to a specific location on an end face of the position determining photodetector at a location corresponding to its location relative to the neutron counter. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for detecting fast neutrons, comprising the steps of:
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positioning, at a location to be monitored for fast neutrons, a neutron detector element including a neutron counter, a plurality of optical fibers peripherally arrayed around the counter, and a scintillator material surrounding and optically coupled to the optical fibers, such that an incident fast neutron can transfer kinetic energy to nuclei in one or more of the optical fibers to produce recoil protons, the recoil protons can interact with the scintillator material to produce scintillation light that is channeled along the optical fiber or fibers with which the neutron interacted, and the slowed neutron can pass into the neutron counter where the neutron effects generation of a signal coincident with the light produced in the optical fibers in which the neutron deposited energy;
using a position determining photodetector at one end of the optical fibers and to which each fiber is optically coupled to a specific location on an end face of the positioning determining photodetector at a location corresponding to its location relative to the neutron counter, to provide two positional signals;
using another photodetector at an opposite end of the optical fibers and to which each fiber is optically coupled, to provide in conjunction with the position determining photodetector a third positional signal; and
analyzing for position and energy information only coincident signals from the first and second photodetectors and the neutron counter.
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Specification