Tracking fast neutrons

Both neutron absorption and elastic scattering can be used to measure neutron momentum. Based on elastic collisions, the linear momentum of a fast neutron can be measured from as few as two consecutive recoil ion tracks plus the vertex position of the third collision, or ‘two and half’ ion tracks. If the time delay between the first two consecutive ion tracks is also measured, the number of ion tracks can be reduced to one and a half. The angular and magnitude resolutions are limited by ion range straggling to about 10%. Multi-wire proportional chambers and light-field imaging can be used for fast neutron tracking. Light-field imaging is free of charge-diffusion-induced image blur, but the limited number of photons available can be a challenge. 1H, 2H and 3He could be used for the initial development of fast neutron trackers based on light-field imaging.