New developments for the determination of the response function for a BC501A compact neutron spectrometer for fusion diagnostics

The compact neutron spectrometer project was initiated to develop a device able to study fast neutrons produced by fusion reactions in a tokamak. The goal is to provide a fully characterized BC501A detector using a digital acquisition system developed by ENEA. The pulse height resolution and the response matrix of the detector are determined using experimental data acquired at the PTB facility. To achieve this goal, methods of data analysis involving entropy maximization and new software were developed. The methods are described and the current results for the pulse height resolution are presented.