TUNL Neutron Beam Experiments

A group of 12 researchers from the MoNA Collaboration, including 5 undergraduate and 2 graduate students, recently visited the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) at Duke University in Durham, NC. The team used an 11-MeV neutron beam from TUNL's tandem accelerator to test prototype neutron detectors. The team had excellent local support by Sean Finch, Forrest Friesen, and Michelle Riemann.

The detectors were built from test kits at Augustana College, Davidson College, Hope College, James Madison University, Michigan State University, and Virginia State University, and consist of plastic scintillators and various configurations of SiPM arrays. Different types of optical coupling and reflective wrapping were used. The collected data will be used in benchmarking current neutron detector simulation tools and play an important role in developing the next generation neutron detector, which was recently approved for funding by the National Science Foundation [https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2320400].

Professor Frank positions a SiPM based detector module for testing.

Closeup of a test module

Students, faculty, and staff involved in the TUNL run