Compact NE213 neutron spectrometer with high energy resolution for fusion applications

A. Zimbal, Marcel Reginatto, H. Schuhmacher, L. Bertalot, B. Esposito, F. M. Poli, J. M. Adams, S. Popovichev, V. Kiptily, A. Murari,

Review of Scientific Instruments · 2004 · 63 citations · 7 references

Concepts

TL;DR

Neutron spectrometry is a tool for obtaining important information on the fuel ion composition, velocity distribution and temperature of fusion plasmas. A compact NE213 liquid scintillator, fully characterized at PTB, was installed and operated at JET during two campaigns, and pulse‑height data were analyzed with a newly developed maximum‑entropy unfolding method. The spectrometer achieved ΔE/E < 4 % at 2.5 MeV and < 2 % at 14 MeV, and measurements under various plasma scenarios, including trace tritium experiments, demonstrate that the inexpensive, compact NE213 detector is suitable as a broadband neutron spectrometer for large fusion devices such as JET and ITER.

Abstract

Neutron spectrometry is a tool for obtaining important information on the fuel ion composition, velocity distribution and temperature of fusion plasmas. A compact NE213 liquid scintillator, fully characterized at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, was installed and operated at the Joint European Torus (JET) during two experimental campaigns (C8-2002 and trace tritium experiment-TTE 2003). The results show that this system can operate in a real fusion experiment as a neutron (1.5 MeV&amp;lt;En&amp;lt;20 MeV) spectrometer with good energy resolution (ΔE/E&amp;lt;4% at En=2.5 MeV and ΔE/E&amp;lt;2% at En=14 MeV). First measurements performed under different plasma scenarios, including trace tritium experiments, are presented. The analysis of the pulse height data was carried out using a newly developed method based on maximum entropy unfolding. The results indicate that this efficient, inexpensive, and compact scintillator is suitable for use as a broadband spectrometer in large fusion devices (JET and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor).

References

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