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Events registration in a fast neutrons spectrometer

J. N. Abdurashitov·V. N. Gavrin·A. V. Kalikhov·A. A. Shikhin·V. E. Yants·O. S. Zaborsky
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Abstract

The principle of operation, design, registration system and main characteristics of a fast neutrons spectrometer are described. The spectrometer is intended for direct measurements of ultra low fluxes of fast neutrons. It is sensitive to neutron fluxes of 10^-7 neutrons/(cm^2 s^1) and lower with the neutron energy above 700 keV. The detection efficiency of fast neutrons with simultaneous energy measurement is within 0.02-0.06. The neutron spectrometer was designed taking into account requirements for minimizing the gamma-ray background. It is a calorimeter based on a pure liquid organic scintillator-thermalizer with helium proportional counters as capturers of thermalized neutrons distributed uniformly over the volume. Low-level signal electronics for the spectrometer were designed with signal-to-noise ratio optimization and full pulse shape analysis required for efficient rejection of background events. A data acquisition and processing system is based on fast (100 MHz) two-channel PC/AT interfaced digital oscilloscope. The acquisition software was written in the C programming language.

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J. N. Abdurashitov, V. N. Gavrin, A. V. Kalikhov, A. A. Shikhin, V. E. Yants, O. S. Zaborsky. 1999-08-24. Events registration in a fast neutrons spectrometer. https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9908035

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