Estimations and integral measurements for the spectral yield of neutrons from thick beryllium target bombarded with 16 MeV protons

TL;DR

This paper estimates the neutron spectral yield from a thick beryllium target bombarded with 16 MeV protons, validating the spectrum through experimental methods and calculating the displacement damage hardness parameter in silicon.

Contribution

It introduces a method to estimate neutron spectra from literature data and validates it with experimental measurements, including the calculation of the NIEL scaling factor.

Findings

Neutron spectral yield was successfully estimated and validated.

The NIEL scaling factor for silicon was determined as 1.26 ± 0.1.

The approach combines literature extrapolation with experimental validation.

Abstract

Spectral yield of p+Be neutrons emitted by thick (stopping) beryllium target bombarded by 16 MeV protons was estimated via extrapolation of literature data. The spectrum was validated via multi-foil activation method and irradiation of 2N2222 transistors. The hardness parameter (NIEL scaling factor) for displacement damage in bulk silicon was calculated and measured and kappa = 1.26 +- 0.1 was obtained.