Grazing-Incidence Neutron Spectrometer Detecting Neutrons and Charged Particles

Abstract

An ionization chamber is installed to the REMUR neutron spectrometer, situated at channel no. 8 of the IBR-2. A layered structure containing a layer of the isotope under study with a thickness of several nanometers is placed into the chamber. A neutron beam enters the chamber and is incident on the structure. The reflected neutron beam and the neutron beam transmitted through the structure are recorded by a detector located outside the chamber. A fraction of neutrons incident on the structure is captured by the nuclei of the isotope under study. As a result, secondary radiation is generated in the form of charged particles, which are recorded by the ionization chamber. The dependences of the neutron and charged particle intensities on the transmitted wave vector of neutrons are used to determine the spatial dependences of the potential of interaction between neutrons with the entire structure and with a layer of the isotope under study. The neutron spectrometer in grazing geometry, using which the neutrons and charged particles are recorded in studying the layered structures, is described. The results of spectrometer testing with the use of structures containing the ⁶Li isotope are given.