Optimization of detector placements in reduction of multiple counts for μSR measurements at China Spallation Neutron Source

An Experimental Muon Source (EMuS) has been proposed to conduct muon spin rotation/relaxation/resonance (μSR) measurements at China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). To make better use of muons in each pulse, a highly segmented μSR spectrometer with more than 2000 detector channels is under design. Due to such high granularity of detectors, multiple counting events generated from particle scattering or spiral motion of positrons in a strong longitudinal field should be carefully considered in the design. According to the simulation, long scintillators have a good capability of angular discrimination. Detectors with cuboid geometries are better than those with frustum shapes. The cuboid detector with a length of 50 mm is longer enough to get the optimal range of discrimination angle. In a real μSR spectrometer, detectors can be placed parallelly along the beam direction or pointing to the sample. A figure of merit (FoM) has been proposed to compare such two arrangements by integrating their impacts on multiple counts and total counting loss in zero and longitudinal fields. The outstanding performance of multiple counting rejection due to the angular discrimination capability makes the pointing arrangement achieve much higher FoM. The simulation results can provide good support for the design of the highly segmented μSR spectrometer.

Neutron capture cross section of 169Tm measured at the CSNS Back-n facility in the energy region from 30 keV to 300 keV

The capture cross sections of the 169Tm(n, γ) reaction were measured at the back streaming white neutron beam line (Back-n) of the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) using four C6D6 liquid scintillation detectors. To obtain accurate cross sections, the background subtraction, normalization, and correction were carefully taken into consideration in the data analysis. For the resonance at 3.9 eV, the R-matrix code SAMMY was used to determine the resonance parameters with internally normalization method. While the average capture cross sections of 169Tm in the energy range between 30 keV and 300 keV were extracted relative to the 197Au(n, γ) reaction. The measured cross sections of the 169Tm(n, γ) reaction were reported in logarithmically equidistant energy bins with 20 bins per energy decade with a total uncertainty of 5.4%-7.0% in this paper, and described in terms of average resonance parameters by means of a Hauser-Feshbach calculation with fluctuations. Both of the point-wise cross sections and the averge resonance parameters showed fair agreement with the evaluated values of ENDF/B-VIII.0 library in the energy region studied.

A novel method to improve the spatial resolution of GEM neutron detectors with a stopping layer

This paper proposes a novel method to improve the spatial resolution of ceramic GEM detectors by adding a stopping layer on top of the solid ¹⁰B4C neutron converter. This will restrict the emission of the secondary ion products of large angles and consequently improve the spatial resolution. The Monte Carlo program FLUKA is used to validate the method, and the verification experiments are carried out at the beam line #20 (BL20) of the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). The experimental results are approximately in agreement with the simulations. The measured spatial resolution is 1.61 mm for the GEM neutron detector operated at ambient pressure with a 1-μm-thick ¹⁰B4C converter, and it is improved to ~0.8 mm by coating a 3-μm-thick titanium on top of the ¹⁰B4C converter.<br><br>

A novel method to improve the spatial resolution of GEM neutron detectors with a stopping layer

This paper proposes a novel method to improve the spatial resolution of ceramic GEM detectors by adding a stopping layer on top of the solid ¹⁰B4C neutron converter. This will restrict the emission of the secondary ion products of large angles and consequently improve the spatial resolution. The Monte Carlo program FLUKA is used to validate the method, and the verification experiments are carried out at the beam line #20 (BL20) of the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). The experimental results are approximately in agreement with the simulations. The measured spatial resolution is 1.61 mm for the GEM neutron detector operated at ambient pressure with a 1-μm-thick ¹⁰B4C converter, and it is improved to ~0.8 mm by coating a 3-μm-thick titanium on top of the ¹⁰B4C converter.<br><br>

Heat Transfer Analysis in Supercritical Hydrogen of Decoupled Poisoned Hydrogen Moderator with Non-Uniform Heat Source of Chinese Spallation Neutron Source

The flow field distribution and thermal properties of supercritical hydrogen are crucial factors affecting the quality of neutrons output from spallation neutron source, which may contribute to the optimization design of the moderator. Several sensitivity studies on affecting heat transfer characteristics of liquid hydrogen inside a moderator were executed, and a choice was made to use a computational fluid dynamics method for numerical simulation. The sensitivity degree of factors affecting the heat transfer characteristics of liquid hydrogen are in sequence of inlet mass flow, beam power and operating pressure. Especially when the beam power is 500 kW (the temperature range of liquid hydrogen is about 20~30 K); where the effect of mass flow rate is remarkable, the cooling effect is best in the range of 60~90 g/s × 394 mm2. Meanwhile, the maximum temperature of liquid hydrogen is close to the bottom recirculation zone due to the influence of the flow field and the heat deposition distribution of the poisoned plate. The effect of variable pressure on the temperature of liquid hydrogen is not significant, whereas the sudden rise of wall temperature is observed near the large specific heat region of 15 bar.