Measurement of the monitored drift tubes response to energetic neutrons

We have measured the response of an array of monitored drift tubes (MDT) to fast neutrons produced by a t(d,n)/sup 4/He reaction at the TANDEM Van de Graaff accelerator of the National Center of Scientific Research (NCSR) "Demokritos". The MDT setup consisted of 24 drift tubes operating with a gas mixture of ArCO/sub 2/ (93:7%) at 3 bar absolute pressure. The neutron energy was 18.3 MeV. The operating anode wire voltage varied from 2200 V to 2800 V. The PC based data acquisition system was self-triggered by the OR of all 24 MDT. Data were also taken by triggering on a single tube. The data analysis is presented and the response of the MDT detector to energetic neutrons is discussed with emphasis on the determination of the MDT sensitivity to neutrons.