Feasibility studies of the self-TOF detector for high-energy neutron measurements in shielding experiments

The feasibility of a new type of neutron detector was studied. The detector consists of a radiator, a start counter and a stop counter. The radiator is composed of 20 thin plastic-scintillation detectors and the stop counter is segmented into nine plastic-scintillation detectors. Neutrons impinging on the radiator emit charged particles. The time of flight of protons emitted at a forward angle is measured using the start and stop counters, therefore, we call the detector the “self-TOF detector”. The proton time-of-flight spectrum is converted to the energy spectrum of neutrons using a measured response function. The basic properties of the detector, such as detection efficiency, signal-to-noise ratio, particle identification capability, and energy resolution, were studied.