Fast Neutron Spectroscopy with a Nitrogen-Based Gaseous Detector

A simple, efficient and safe to use but also affordable fast neutron spectroscopic system is the Holy Grail in many scientific and industrial communities.
³
He based detectors provide a solution that fulfils most of the requirements but its high demand combined with its scarcity has created a worldwide shortage and efforts are focused on finding an alternative solution. Several detectors are proposed for this task, such as BF
₃
proportional counters, plastic scintillators, and recoil detectors, all with disadvantages that make their adoption far from ideal. We propose a system based on a spherical proportional counter filled with nitrogen-based gas mixtures to exploit the
¹⁴
N(n,α)B
¹¹
and
¹⁴
N(n,p)C
¹⁴
reactions for the detection of fast neutrons.
³
He and N
₂
have comparable Q-values and absorption cross-sections for fast neutron capture, o ering similar detection capabilities. In the future, such a detector could be utilised in industrial applications such as reactor monitoring, medical physics, accelerator facilities, homeland security, fuel searches and serve as a tool in scientific research.