FLUKA simulations and benchmark measurements of the YAP(Ce) scintillators installed on the VESUVIO spectrometer

DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2020.164012

Authors: Dalila Onorati (Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”) , Giovanni Romanelli (ISIS Facility) , Pierfrancesco Ulpiani (Università, degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”) , Carlo Cazzaniga (ISIS Facility) , Enrico Preziosi (Università, degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”) , Laura Arcidiacono (Diamond Light Source; University College of London Institute of Archaeology) , Giulia Festa (Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi) , Carla Andreani (Università, degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”; Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi; CNR-IPCF Sezione di Messina) , Roberto Senesi (Università, degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”; Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi; CNR-IPCF Sezione di Messina) , Maria Cristina Morone (Università, degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”; INFN)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Nuclear Instruments And Methods In Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors And Associated Equipment

State: Published (Approved)
Published: April 2020

Abstract: We present experimental results and FLUKA Monte-Carlo simulations reproducing the counting efficiency and the energy resolution of the cerium-activated yttrium-aluminium-perovskite photon detectors installed on the VESUVIO neutron spectrometer at the ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source. In particular, we investigate the performance of these detectors in the energy range between 100 keV and 300 keV. In this range, the -emission of the 197Au resonant analyser foils, installed on VESUVIO to select the energy of scattered neutrons, is predominant. Such photons are currently discarded by the low-level discrimination threshold of the acquisition electronics set to 600 keV. Here, we model the detector crystals for a series of thickness values, and we discuss how 2-cm-thick crystals would significantly reduce the acquisition times with respect to the 6-mm-thick crystals employed at present. Additionally, we show how the signal-to-background ratio can be substantially enhanced by shielding the scintillators with 0.5-mm-thick Pb foils. We finally discuss the improved detection performance on a model sample of interest for Cultural-Heritage applications.

Journal Keywords: FLUKA simulation; Epithermal neutron instrumentation; Neutron resonance; Prompt-gamma analysis; Deep inelastic neutron scattering; Neutrons for cultural heritage

Subject Areas: Technique Development, Archaeological and Cultural Heritage

Facility: ISIS

Added On: 29/04/2020 09:21

Discipline Tags:

Detectors Cultural Heritage Humanities Engineering & Technology

Technical Tags: