Neutron detection system for a muon catalyzed fusion experiment with an intense pulsed muon beam

We have developed a neutron detection system for muon catalyzed fusion (μCF) experiments at the RIKEN-RAL Muon Facility (Nagamine et al., Hyperfine Interactions 85 (1994) 343; 101/102 (1996) 521), where the worldʹs strongest pulsed muon beam is available. This system has been used in μCF experiments (separately reported (Ishida et al., Hyperfine Interactions 118 (1999) 203; Kawamura et al., Hyperfine Interactions 118 (1999) 213; Kawamura et al., Phys. Lett. B 465 (1999) 74; Matsuzaki et al., Hyperfine Interactions 118 (1999) 229; Nakamura et al., Hyperfine Interactions 118 (1999) 209; Nakamura et al., Phys. Lett. B 473 (2000) 226)) in order to detect a 14.1 MeV neutron emitted through a muon catalyzed dt-fusion process, and to determine the neutron yield (Yn) and the neutron disappearance rate (λn), which are the most fundamental observable quantities in the μCF study. gh the utilization of an intense pulsed muon beam is essential for X-ray detection against a huge bremsstrahlung background from tritium β-decay (Nagamine et al., Hyperfine Interactions 85 (1994) 343; 101/102 (1996) 521), a large number of emitted neutrons cause a pileup event in the detection system. We developed the neutron detection system, which had sufficient performance to determine Yn and λn even in such a condition.