A neutron detector to monitor the intensity of transmitted neutrons for small-angle neutron scattering instruments

A semiconductor-based neutron detector was developed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) for use as a neutron beam monitor for small-angle neutron scattering instruments. The detector is constructed using a coating of 10B on a gallium–arsenide semiconductor detector and is mounted directly within a cylindrical (2.2 cm dia. and 4.4 cm long) enriched 10B4C beam stop in the time-of-flight Small Angle Neutron Diffractometer (SAND) instrument at the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS) facility at ANL. The neutron beam viewed by the SAND is from a pulsed spallation source moderated by a solid methane moderator that produces useful neutrons in the wavelength range of 0.5–14 Å. The SAND instrument uses all detected neutrons in the above wavelength range sorted by time-of-flight into 68 constant ΔT/T=0.05 channels. This new detector continuously monitors the transmitted neutron beam through the sample during scattering measurements and takes data concurrently with the other detectors in the instrument. The 10B coating on the GaAs detector allows the detection of the cold neutron spectrum with reasonable efficiency. This paper describes the details of the detector fabrication, the beam stop monitor design, and includes a discussion of results from preliminary tests using the detector during several run cycles at the IPNS.