Development of Compact Neutron Detectors using Pulse Shape Analysis

该项目旨在开发一种紧凑、低功率的中子探测器，它可以在其他电离辐射源的背景下识别中子，利用所使用的闪烁材料的激发和去激发的时间行为差异。这种探测系统将在核监测、核保障和国土安全方面得到广泛应用。这项工作将集中于研究四种新的闪烁材料，针对不同能量的中子。它将使用低功率半导体传感器和波形数字仪来记录和研究输出光的脉冲形状随时间的变化，以及不同类型的入射辐射，从中子到α， β和γ辐射。将使用计算算法离线研究记录的波形，以提取最佳值，确定具有最高信噪比的最有前途的方法。在下一步中，该算法将被实现到实验硬件中，要么使用基于FPGA的解决方案，要么在模拟电子中允许实时区分辐射类型。然后，探测器系统将在格拉斯哥大学以及AWE的最终用户集中设施中针对辐射源进行测试。

The project aims at developing a compact, low power neutron detector, which can identify neutrons in a background of other sources of ionising radiation exploiting differences in the time behaviour of the excitation and de-excitation of the scintillation material used. Such a detector system will find widespread applications in nuclear monitoring, nuclear safeguarding and homeland security.The work will focus on studying four novel scintillation materials, aimed at neutrons of differieren energies. It will used low power semiconductor sensors and wave form digitisers to record and study the pulse shape of the output light as a function of time and for different types of incident radiation, from neutrons to alpha, beta and gamma radiation. The recorded wave forms will be studied offline using computing algorithms to extract the best figure of merit, identifying the most promising method with the highest signal-to-noise ratio. In the next step, this algorithm will be implemented into experimental hardware, either using FPGA based solutions or in analogue electronics to allow real-time discrimination between radiation types.The detector system will then be tested against radiation sources at the University of Glasgow as well as in end-user focussed facilities at AWE.