Design of a moderated multidetector neutron spectrometer for optimal specificity

Neutron spectrometry can play an important role in the detection and identification of neutron-emitting sources in various security applications. In the present work, a portable filtered array neutron spectrometer, consisting of twelve ⁶LiF-based thermal neutron detectors embedded within a single heterogeneous volume was designed and its expected performance compared to that of a commercially available 12-sphere Bonner spheres spectrometer. Each detector within the volume was designed to optimally respond to a unique portion of the neutron spectrum by varying the type and thickness of materials used to filter the spectrum as well as the thickness of the moderator in front of the detector. The available design space was permuted and performance metrics developed to identify the optimal geometries. The top performing detector geometries were then combinatorially explored to identify the best array of geometries that yielded the most information about a neutron spectrum. The best performing filtered array was found to provide as much spectral information as, or more than, the commercially available 12-sphere Bonner spheres spectrometer to which it was compared.