A Micromegas detector for neutron beam imaging at the n TOF facility at CERN

Abstract

Micromegas (Micro-MEsh Gaseous Structure) detectors are gas detectors consisting of a stack of one ionization and one proportional chamber. A micromesh separates the two communicating regions, where two different electric fields establish respectively a charge drift and a charge multiplication regime. The n TOF facility at CERN provides a white neutron beam (from thermal up to GeV neutrons) for neutron induced cross section measurements. These measurements need a perfect knowledge of the incident neutron beam, in particular regarding its spatial profile. A position sensitive micromegas detector equipped with a 10B based neutron/charged particle converter has been extensively used at the n TOF facility for characterizing the neutron beam profile and extracting the beam interception factor for samples of different size. The boron converter allowed to scan the energy region of interest for neutron induced capture reactions as a function of the neutron energy, determined by the time of flight. Experimental results will be presented and compared to simulations, performed by means of the FLUKA code.