Neutron Detection using a Gadolinium-Cathode GEM Detector

TL;DR

This paper presents a gadolinium-cathode GEM detector designed for neutron detection, demonstrating a measurable efficiency using a thermal neutron source, which could enhance neutron detection technologies.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel gadolinium-cathode GEM detector and evaluates its neutron detection efficiency, showcasing its potential as a neutron detection device.

Findings

Neutron detection efficiency of 4.63% measured

Gadolinium cathode effectively converts neutrons for detection

Detector performance characterized with thermal neutron source

Abstract

A gas electron multiplier (GEM) detector with a gadolinium cathode has been developed to explore its potential application as a neutron detector. It consists of three standard-sized ($10\times 10$ cm${}^{2}$) GEM foils and a thin gadolinium plate as the cathode, which is used as a neutron converter. The neutron detection efficiencies were measured for two different cathode setups and for two different drift gaps. The thermal neutron source at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) was used to measure the neutron detection efficiency. Based on the neutron flux measured by KRISS, the neutron detection efficiency of our gadolinium GEM detector was $4.630 \pm 0.034(stat.) \pm 0.279(syst.) \%$.