# mini-TimeCube as a Neutron Scatter Camera

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates through Monte Carlo simulations that a compact detector, originally designed for antineutrino detection, can be used as an effective neutron scatter camera with precise spatiotemporal resolution for imaging fast neutrons in the 1-10 MeV range.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel application of the miniTimeCube detector as a neutron imaging device using waveform digitization and Bayesian reconstruction methods.

## Key findings

- Waveform digitization enables ~100 ps timing and ~5 mm spatial resolution.
- Bayesian framework effectively reconstructs neutron direction and energy.
- Populations of reconstructed neutrons can identify source location and spectrum.

## Abstract

We present Monte Carlo (MC) simulation results from a study of a compact plastic-scintillator detector suitable for imaging fast neutrons in the 1 -- 10 MeV energy range: the miniTimeCube (mTC). Originally designed for antineutrino detection, the mTC consists of 24 MultiChannel Plate (MCP) photodetectors surrounding a 13 cm cube of boron-doped plastic scintillator. Our simulation results show that waveform digitization of 1536 optically sensitive channels surrounding the scintillator should allow for spatiotemporal determination of individual neutron-proton scatters in the detector volume to $\thicksim$100 picoseconds and $\thicksim$5 mm. A Bayesian estimation framework is presented for multiple-scatter reconstruction, and is used to estimate the incoming direction and energy of simulated individual neutrons. Finally, we show how populations of reconstructed neutrons can be used to estimate the direction and energy spectrum of nearby simulated neutron sources.