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A Fission Chamber Measurement of the natB(d,n) Cross Section for Use in Neutron Detector Calibration

A. R. Di Lullo, T. N. Massey, S. M. Grimes, D. E. Carter, J. E. O'Donnell, D. Jacobs

Nuclear Science and Engineering / Volume 159 / Number 3 / July 2008 / Pages 346-350

Technical Note / dx.doi.org/10.13182/NSE159-346TN

The use of an easily reproducible neutron source reaction that produces a well-known continuous spectrum of neutrons over a range of energies is an ideal solution for some neutron detector efficiency calibrations. Fission chamber measurements of the 27Al(d,n) reaction have proven valuable for detector calibration for energies between 0.2 and 14 MeV. To complement the aluminum data, measurements were made with a fission chamber at 60 deg of the neutron spectrum produced from the 7.5-MeV deuteron bombardment of a thick natural boron target. This should enable accurate and efficient calibration of neutron detectors for the energy range between 0.09 and 19.6 MeV. Tenth-order polynomial fits to the data are provided for the region with energies between 88 keV and 2.33 MeV and the region with energies between 1.76 and 19.6 MeV.