A new neutron time-of-flight detector for fuel-areal-density measurements on OMEGA

Abstract

A new neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) detector for fuel-areal-density measurements in cryogenic DT implosions was installed on the OMEGA Laser System. The nTOF detector has a cylindrical thin-wall, stainless-steel, 8-in.-diam, 4-in.-thick cavity filled with an oxygenated liquid xylene scintillator. Four gated photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) with different gains are used to measure primary DT and D2 neutrons, down-scattered neutrons in nT and nD kinematic edge regions, and to study tertiary neutrons in the same detector. The nTOF detector is located 13.4 m from target chamber center in a well-collimated line of sight. The design details of the nTOF detector, PMT optimization, and test results on OMEGA will be presented.