# A new gas-based proton-recoil telescope for quasi-absolute neutron flux measurements between 0.2 and 2 MeV neutron energy

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel gaseous proton-recoil telescope utilizing Micromegas technology for quasi-absolute neutron flux measurements between 0.2 and 2 MeV, offering high accuracy and background rejection.

## Contribution

The paper presents a new gas-based detector with adjustable parameters and tracking capabilities, improving neutron flux measurement accuracy and background discrimination over existing methods.

## Key findings

- Achieved ~3% accuracy in neutron flux measurements.
- Demonstrated effective background rejection and sensitivity down to 200 keV.
- Validated the detector's performance across a large dynamic range.

## Abstract

Absolute measurements of neutron flux are an essential prerequisite of neutron-induced cross section measurements, neutron beam lines characterization and dosimetric investigations. A new gaseous detector has been developed for measurements of 0.2 to 2 MeV neutron flux based on proton-recoil process. The detector, consisting of two segmented ionization chambers read by Micromegas technology, has beed conceived to provide quasi-absolute neutron flux measurements with an accuracy of \simeq3%. The gas pressure flexibility makes the telescope non sensitive to {\gamma} and electrons background, and therefore advantageous over semi-conductor materials as a neutron flux instrument. The adjustable gas pressure and H-sample thickness, the use of Micromegas technology and the tracking capabilities allows the detection of neutrons on a large dynamical range and down to 200 keV with a good rejection of scattered neutron events and random background