Characterization of the FOOT neutron detectors for nuclear fragmentation measurements at the n_TOF facility

FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) is an applied nuclear physics experiment with the aim of performing high precision cross section measurements for fragmentation reactions of interest in hadrontherapy and radiation protection in space. The physics program of the experiment foresees a set of measurement...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Zarrella, Roberto, Manna, Alice, Amaducci, Simone, Bacak, Michael, Casanovas Hoste, Adrià|||0000-0002-7138-0894, Colombi, Sofia, D'Orazio, Claudio, García Infantes, Francisco, Malekinezhad, Nasrin, Marafini, Michela, Massimi, Cristian, Mengoni, Alberto
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/414978
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/414978
https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/19/04/C04006
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Scintillators
Fast neutrons
Hadrons
Neutron detectors (cold
thermal
fast neutrons)
scintillation and light emission processes (solid
gas and liquid scintillators)
Escintil·ladors
Neutrons ràpids
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies::Energia nuclear
Descripción
Sumario:FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) is an applied nuclear physics experiment with the aim of performing high precision cross section measurements for fragmentation reactions of interest in hadrontherapy and radiation protection in space. The physics program of the experiment foresees a set of measurements with light ion beams, such as C and O, in the energy range of 100–800 MeV/u interacting with tissue-like and shielding material targets. The setup was initially conceived for the detection of charged fragments and, in 2021, the Collaboration started the study of possible solutions for neutron detection. Two detection systems have been proposed: one based on BC-501A liquid scintillators with neutron/¿ discrimination capabilities and a system based on BGO crystals operated in phoswich mode. In 2022, a dedicated data acquisition campaign was carried out at the n_TOF facility at CERN to evaluate the capabilities of the two systems. First, the neutron/¿ discrimination efficiency of the BC-501A system was studied using radioactive sources. Then, the two systems were placed in the n_TOF experimental area to study their neutron detection efficiency under a well characterized neutron beam. In this work, the first preliminary results concerning the characterization of the two possible neutron detectors of FOOT are presented.