Design of a single moderator-type neutron spectrometer with enhanced energy resolution in energy range from a few to 100 keV

Tanimura, Yoshihiko   ; Saegusa, Jun; Yoshizawa, Michio  ; Yoshida, Makoto

The moderator structure of a neutron spectrometer was optimized with a Monte Carlo code of MCNP-4B. The spectrometer consists of a cylindrical moderator and a position-sensitive thermal neutron detector. It can obtain an energy spectrum from thermal neutron distribution along the cylindrical axis of the moderator. The structure of the moderator was improved by putting a low hydrogen density material in the front of a high hydrogen density one and inserting a neutron absorber which eliminated thermal neutrons diffusing in the moderator. These improvements make energy resolution of the spectrometer better especially for the low energy neutrons from a few tens to 100 keV. The designed spectrometer can be applied to the measurement of energy spectrum over a neutron energy range from a few keV to 20 MeV.