A Position Sensitive Gd Detector for Thermal Neutrons

Abstract

Si-strip detectors show qualities which are desirable in many neutron experiments, like excellent position– and time resolution and a low sensitivity to background radiation. To demonstrate the feasibility of this detector type for the detection of thermal neutrons, we tested a prototype of a one dimensional position sensitive neutron detector based on a Si-strip detector with a Gd-foil converter. A complete system consisting of the detector with VLSI electronics and an on-line data acquisition system has been constructed and tested. We present the first results of the measured position resolution and detector efficiency for neutrons with 1.1 Å wavelength.