paper

A backing detector for order-keV neutrons

arXiv:2203.04896 · doi:10.1016/j.nima.2022.166981

Abstract

We have designed and tested a large-area (0.15~m $^{2}$ ) neutron detector based on neutron capture on \ce{^{6}Li}. The neutron detector design has been optimized for the purpose of tagging the scattering angle of keV-scale neutrons. These neutron detectors would be employed to calibrate the low-energy ( $<$ 100 eV) nuclear recoil in detectors for dark matter and coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering (CE $I^½$ NS). We describe the design, construction, and characterization of a prototype. The prototype is designed to have a tagging efficiency of $\sim$ 25\% at the relevant $O$ (keV) neutron energies, and with a mean capture time of $\sim$ 17 $I^¼$ s. The prototype was characterized using a \ce{^{252}Cf} neutron source and agreement with the simulation was observed within a few percent level.

25 pages, 14 figures, and 2 tables