Speaker
Description
We present the performance of a novel neutron detection technique based on a
Water Cherenkov Detector (WCD) employing pure water, an inner coating material
acting as a light reflector and diffuser, and a single photomultiplier tube
(PMT). The detector employed in this work is part of the Latin American Giant
Observatory (LAGO) collaboration, that measures the low energy component of
cosmic rays. The experiments presented in this work were performed in presence
of $^{241}$AmBe and $^{252}$Cf neutron sources in different neutron moderator
and shielding configurations. We show that fast neutrons from $^{241}$AmBe and
$^{241}$Cf sources, as well as thermal neutrons from a neutron moderator,
having different spectral characteristics, produce essentially the same pulse
histogram shape. This characteristic pulse height histogram shape recorded is a
clear signature of neutrons with energies lower than $\simeq$11\,MeV, and was
verified in different experimental conditions. Using this experimental data we estimate the neutron detection efficiency for fast neutrons at the level of (15$\pm$5)\%.
Also we explain the physical process that produce Cherenkov light from an incoming neutron.
Being the material employed as active volume pure water, a cheap and abundant
material, the results obtained in this work are of great interest for the
construction of low cost and large active volumes neutron detectors for
different applications, specially those related with space weather phenomena
monitoring as well as the detection of fisil or fusionable special nuclear
material.
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