The efficiency of thermal neutron detection and collimation with microchannel plates of square and circular geometry

Detectors with microchannel plates (MCPs) are currently widely used in photon and charged particle detection with high spatial (∼10 μm) and temporal (<0.5 ns) resolution. All the advances in MCP detection technologies can be successfully implemented for the detection of thermal neutrons by using microchannel plates manufactured from a modified glass mixture doped with neutron absorbing atoms. In this paper we compare the efficiency of thermal neutron detection for two standard MCP geometries: circular-pore and square-pore microchannel plates doped with the ¹⁰B isotope. The results of our modeling indicate that the detection of thermal neutrons with a square-pore MCP is 11-23% more efficient than for the circular geometry, and can be as high as ∼80% for the existing MCP technology. The same microchannel plates can be used as very efficient and compact thermal neutron collimators. In this paper we compare the efficiency of circular- and square-pore MCP collimators with the help of our model, the validity of which has already been verified by our experimental measurements reported last year. The rocking curve of 5 mm and 2.5 mm thick MCPs doped with 3 mole% of ^natGd₂O₃ is predicted to be only ±0.1° and ±0.3° wide, respectively, for both geometries. A very compact device with high thermal neutron detection efficiency and angular sensitivity can be built by combining an MCP neutron detector with an MCP collimator.