The semiconductor pixel detector Timepix (256 x256 pixels, 55 um pitch) is successor of the Medipix2 device. The detector is adapted for neutrons by deposition of a converter layer onto its surface. Thermal and cold neutrons are converted into heavy charged particles in a layer containing ⁶Li or ¹⁰B. Fast neutrons are detected via protons, again heavy charged particles, recoiled from a polyethylene convertor. The heavy charged particles are detected by the Timepix with submicron spatial resolution. An important advantage of this detection technique is the full suppression of gamma background which is always accompanying experiments with neutrons.

Date Published: 11 September 2009
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 7449, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XI, 744910 (11 September 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.830075

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7449:
Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XI
Ralph B. James; Larry A. Franks; Arnold Burger, Editor(s)