First tests of the applicability of $\gamma$-ray imaging for background discrimination in time-of-flight neutron capture measurements

Abstract

In this work we explore for the first time the applicability of using $\gamma$-ray imaging in neutron capture measurements to identify and suppress spatially localized background. For this aim, a pinhole gamma camera is assembled, tested and characterized in terms of energy and spatial performance. It consists of a monolithic CeBr${}_3$ scintillating crystal coupled to a position-sensitive photomultiplier and readout through an integrated circuit AMIC2GR. The pinhole collimator is a massive carven block of lead. A series of dedicated measurements with calibrated sources and with a neutron beam incident on a ${}^{197}$Au sample have been carried out at n_TOF, achieving an enhancement of a factor of two in the signal-to-background ratio when selecting only those events coming from the direction of the sample.

Preprint submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A

References in corpus (2)

• Pulse processing routines for neutron time-of-flight data
• GEANT4 simulation of the neutron background of the C${}_6$D${}_6$ set-up for capture studies at n_TOF

Cited by in corpus (6)

• First i-TED demonstrator: a Compton imager with Dynamic Electronic Collimation
• $\gamma$-Ray position reconstruction in large monolithic LaCl${}_3$(Ce) crystals with SiPM readout
• On the performance of large monolithic LaCl3(Ce) crystals coupled to pixelated silicon photosensors
• Advances and new ideas for neutron-capture astrophysics experiments at CERN n_TOF
• Gamma-ray imaging system for real-time measurements in nuclear waste characterisation
• Review and new concepts for neutron-capture measurements of astrophysical interest