PoGOLino: a scintillator-based balloon-borne neutron detector

TL;DR

PoGOLino is a balloon-borne neutron detector using LiCAF scintillators, designed to explore high-altitude neutron environments at high latitudes, with successful flight data collection and calibration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel scintillator-based neutron detector with LiCAF for high-altitude neutron measurements at high geomagnetic latitudes.

Findings

Successful balloon flight data collection at 30.9 km altitude.

Effective background reduction using BGO crystals.

Ground calibration results validate detector performance.

Abstract

PoGOLino is a balloon-borne scintillator-based experiment developed to study the largely unexplored high altitude neutron environment at high geomagnetic latitudes. The instrument comprises two detectors that make use of LiCAF, a novel neutron sensitive scintillator, sandwiched by BGO crystals for background reduction. The experiment was launched on March 20th 2013 from the Esrange Space Centre, Northern Sweden (geomagnetic latitude of $65^\circ$), for a three hour flight during which the instrument took data up to an altitude of 30.9 km. The detector design and ground calibration results are presented together with the measurement results from the balloon flight.