Characterization of stilbene-d12 for neutron spectroscopy without time of flight

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that deuterated stilbene (stilbene-d12) can effectively perform direct neutron spectroscopy without time-of-flight, showing improved performance over H1-stilbene and suitability for various nuclear applications.

Contribution

The paper provides the first experimental characterization of stilbene-d12's light-output response to neutrons and validates its use for direct neutron spectroscopy without time-of-flight.

Findings

Stilbene-d12 outperforms H1-stilbene in spectral shape accuracy.

Successful neutron spectrum unfolding from stilbene-d12 data.

Viability of stilbene-d12 for fast-neutron spectroscopy confirmed.

Abstract

We have experimentally characterized the light-output response of a deuterated trans-stilbene (stilbene-d12) crystal to quasi-monoenergetic neutrons in the 0.8 to 4.4 MeV energy range. These data allowed us to perform neutron spectroscopy measurements of a DT 14.1 MeV source and a PuBe-239 source by unfolding the impinging neutron spectrum from the measured light-output response. The stilbene-d12 outperforms a H1-stilbene of similar size when comparing the shape of the unfolded spectra and the reference ones. These results confirm the viability of non-hygroscopic stilbene-d12 crystal for direct neutron spectroscopy without need for time-of-flight measurements. This capability makes stilbene-d12 a well suited detector for fast-neutron spectroscopy in many applications including nuclear reaction studies, radiation protection, nuclear non-proliferation, and space travel.